Galactik football, The next Generation
by Godess of the galaxy
Summary: my idea of season four. What was the plot, will the fluxes exist as they have, or will finally someone finish the work Bleylock started. Changes has been made to the chapters, so if you read this months ago, do read it again, as a few chapters has been changed and redone. hope it will be liked
1. Chapter 1

This is my take on how a season 4 would start, the issues that will be brought to light. It will indeed be a very pirate centerd start, as the creators created a scenario that I could only see Sonny and his men ready to tackle. It will finally be DJoks turn to go with the pirates, as well as Sinedd. And as you will see, a real game changer will be thrown in. Will the teams remain the same, or will all break apart. Due to the writers program I use, is not supported by this page, I am for now, forced to use the copy and paste to upload the chapters. I will look for a soulution to this. Do enjoy the story, and let me know what you think.

* * *

It was a complete shock in Club Galactik.

"SUNJA! No!"Sinedd cired as he fell to his knees.

"This cant be..not now."D'Jok had also stood frozen.

"Mei, Micro Ice, the galactik kids, where are they?"Aarch was yelling at Clamp, demanding an answer to why most of the players in the holotrainer had disappeared.

Clamp was nervous, and clearly trying to get a lock on the disappeared players and where they could be. D'Jok was one for the first to get out of the shock.

"What was that light with the lightning bolts inside the holo trainer Clamp?Is the holo trainer faulty, or is there something I missed here? did you put in a new program?"D'Jok asked, as he was shaking the shock.

"It appeared just as if they disappeared, and it was over in seconds. Something has to be wrong with this holo trainer. It is not safe to train in" Sinedd said. Now that the shock was letting go, he was now getting back to his normal, angry self.

"Mei, Sunja...Someone answer me, where are they?Clamp. Do something! Please!"Sinedd pleaded,overwhelmed with worry.

Rocket was besides himself. Two of his team mates were gone too. Aarch was about as tense as his nephew.

"Do Something, anyone!" he demanded.

But, no one could come up with anything, no plan to fix this. Clamp was sweating as he tried to find a solution. The controls did not allow him to access the controls like they should. And now, they had a real crisis on their hands.

"Its like they dissolved into thin air. I have no idea what happend. There is absolutely no trace of them"Clamp said. He kept trying to locate the missng players,sweating bullets the more it became evident that there was no trail for him to follow. he did not have the right equipment.

Tia, their captain, had managed to shake the shock enough to make sense of things. Now she approached the desk of Clamp with a determined look in her eyes.

"Clamp, we need help with this. We are not skilled enough on our own. And I can think of just one man that is capable of doing that, You know whos help we need", she stated, with a firm expression on her face.

Clamp looked at her. It did not take a genius to realise that a few of the other snow kids was thinking the same. And to be honest, he could see their point. If he could not find the solution, there was only one man that came to mind, that he knew could, that someone would be able to get things done, but there was the element of danger to it all.

"You are thinking about Sonny?I am sure he could do it, but to bring them here, it is dangerous, especially for him"He told her. It was not really much of an ask, it was a statement.

Tia noddedd at that.

"Who else has the means, the knowledge and the courage to do this? I have seen him do the impossible before. Sonny Blackbones and the pirates is our best hope to solve this. We must contact them. I take it you have his contact code? if not you, D'Jok should be able to contact him" she stated, looking at him.

Clamp scratched his head. He was not all comfortable about making the call to Sonny, not with Artegor Nexus in the room. Everyone now looked at him ,nodding at what Tia had just said. A quick look at D'Jok, resulted in another nodd. The snow kids all agreed as to whom to turn to.

"Clamp, I agree with Tia. you need to call Sonny Blackbones,now!He will know how to track them, either he, or one of his men" Thran exclaimed, with all snow kids nodding agreeingly behind him.

Clamp realised Thran was right.

"Ok, Fine. I will make the call. But I will also ask everyone to look away while I do it. Sonny is a dear friend. I have known him through many years, and I am not going to expose his location in any form or way without his concent."he said, signalling for Harvey, the snow kids service robot to engage stealth mode five,the secret frequenzy of the pirates.

Artegor looked at him with amazement. This was one connection he had never figured out on his own. Clamp had always been a charrater, but that he was a close friend to the pirate chief was unknown to him.

"You are friends with the Pirate leader?"He asked astounded.

Aarch intervined. Clamps connection to the pirate chief was not a subject to debate. Right now, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Clamp and Sonny go back a long time, and Sonny and the pirates has never wronged the snowkids or us in any way, it is not the first time he has come to our aide. In hard times, he and his men have helped us when things seemed hopeless. He is someone I would trust fully. Or what say you Aduim?"

Aarch looked to his girlfriend, whom had bore witness to it all. Aduim nodded slowly.

"Despite what Technoid says, Sonny has been a great help to the snowkids and the league. The only one that really has a problem with Sonny, is Technoid, Sonny is held in high regard by the League..I have no reason to belive that he will not solve this and quick",she said.

Clamp nodded. There was a unanomous decision here to get Sonny and the pirates involved.

"I see. Turn away...I will make the call"

* * *

In the Genesis stadium private astro hangars,Sonny was preparing their new ship for a flight back to the shiloh archipelago. Magnus Blade had managed to steal the Black Manta under their noses a few months earlier. Well, to be fair, he should have seen it coming. Magnus was the one that had created and built The Black Manta, he would see this as a reposession of his property. But just the same, there was things on board belonging to the pirates under Sonnys command. Somehow, they needed to retrieve those items. Sonny had decided to restock the ship, then go on a search for the former pirate. As far as the ship itself went, it was old, but in good condition. The fleet was not big, but The Black Manta was the pride of the pirates. The symbol of their organization. The pirates had a sort of sentimental attachment to their home. If possible, they would take it back. With that, Sonny snapped out of his trail of thoughts. The new replacement ship was loaded, and good to go.

"Corso, are all systems ready to go?" he asked as he went for the second seat in the pilot position. Corso had more flying hours than him and was the usual designated pilot of his crew. Sonny would take the role as co pilot as he and Corso did not need words to communicate what had to be done. They had the ability to know what the other was thinking. Corso was an experienced pilot and he knew how to escape Technoid in daring, but entertaining ways if it was called for.

"Yes, Sonny, we are ready and stealth mode is activated." Corso reported with a smile.

Sonny nodded. He turned to the other two members of his four man crew, whom was awating his orders.

"Artie, Bennett, make sure everyone is at their post. It is time we start chasing down Magnus, and take back the Black Manta."Sonny announced to great cheers from his crew. Their home being stolen had put some of the pirates in a miserable mood, and Sonnys choice to go after the former leader,like some thought he should have done years ago, to find out where he had hidden, became a real boost for the morale onboard the ship. Sonny was just about to down fasten the seatbelt, a new feature in the new ship,where he sat next to Corso, when his transmitter started to beep. Corso sent his boss a look, as Sonny looked puzzled. Then he answered the call. All his men were on board. it had to be someone not part of the crew. And Sonnys contact code was unknown to most, but a few chosen people. for safety reasons. It had to be someone close to Sonny that would be calling. Corso watched as he answered it, Clamps worried and sweatty face appeared in hologram form. Corso frowned. This was odd. He looked at Sonny. Sonny had a sixth sense when something was wrong, and the very way Clamp looked right now, something was most definately wrong.

"Sonny, is this a bad time?"Clamp asked, somewhat apologetically. But worry was painted all over him. Sonny sensed whatever the reason for the call was, it was urgent, and most likely either about his son or something to do with him.

"Clamp, it is not ideal, but the worried look on your face tells me this is urgent." Sonny replied calmly. Clamp being this upset was out of the norm, and he had to calm his friend enough to make him tell him what was going on.

Clamp nodded.

"We got a serious situation here Sonny, and the snow kids as a team wanted me to contact you, we need your help, and fast" he said.

That made Sonny frown. The snow kids as a team asking his help, that sounded ominous. Sure, he knew members of the team separately, but the entire team had asked for him to be contacted? That had a bad ring to it.

"Tell me Clamp,what is the emergency?"Sonny asked,as he secured his seatbelt in the co pilot seat. Corso looked at him, holding off the starting proceedures, something told him, there would be a delay here.

"A team of 8 players, the galactik kids, The team of kids that D'Jok is the coach for,Hush Sharky, Mei and Micro Ice disappeared while in the holo trainer. The snow kids wanted to let the kids play the champions. Now, I cant figure out where they went. They seemed to have vanished into thin air, with no visible trace" Clamp explained.

"What!? That is impossible Clamp. There has to be a trail, nothing just vanish without a trace. As a scientist you would know that as well as I do." Sonny was not known for being caught off guard, but this message truly shocked him. What Clamp told him, was scientifically impossible. This had all marks of a kidnaping. "How did that Happen Clamp? Your holo trainer is safe isnt it? I dont recall you telling me about this before. Your machines could be a bit unstabile in the past, true that, but you never had any mishaps like this before? This makes no sense" he questioned.

Before Clamp could answer,D'Jok appeared next to Clamp. Sonny could see a million different emotions in his sons face. Fear being the dominating one.

"Dad, I know this is dangerous for you, but I am responsible for these kids. This incident was not the snow kids holo trainer, this happened at Club Galactik, here on Genesis. We wanted to give the galactik kids a treat, by playing the champions. This was not the kind of treat I had in mind. Dad, this could sabotage my entire life"D'Jok said.

Sonny nodded.

"I would imagine you informed the parents of what happened yet D'Jok? As a founder of the team, and a coach, this is a responsibillity you have, I expect you to act as a leader and a coach in this situation, nothing less. But you are right, this could cause problems that puts you in danger, and you are not joining the pirates, I will not allow it"Sonny said, looking at his son.

D'Jok nodded. This was a fair ask from his father, and one that made sense. And at least he now knew, he would not join the pirates today.

"Dad,You once told me, if I ever need you, you would never be far. remember?" he asked.

Sonnys face softend slightly when his eyes met his sons worried gaze.

"That I did D'Jok, and I meant it then as I do now." Sonny said softly. he sensed the question his son would not speak in front of his team mates.

D'Jok nodded.

"This time, I need your help Dad, more than ever.I got to get the galactik kids, Mei and Micro Ice back. Without them, I will fall apart. They are everything to me, I got to do something to fix this" he stated.

Sonny felt the same way about his pirates, and his second in command Corso, if not for them, He would not make it himself.

Sonny had already made the decission. There was an urgency of the matter and Clamp did not have the tools to deal with this. The pirates had to give them a helping hand or more.

"We will be at Club Galactik within a few hours. I will see you then DJok, leave the worrying to me. We will find them, and get them back, I give my word. And a pirate never breaks a promise" he said

* * *

The snowkids, Aarch, a very pregnant Aduim, Clamp and Artegor were anxious when the door opend a few hours later,and Sonny and his men arrived.

"Dad!"D'Jok got up and hugged his father, who returned the hug. Sonny could tell from his sons reation that what had happened had rattled his son. And he was in need of his fathers calm and sound advice on the matter. Worry was painted on D'Joks face. Sonny calmly laid a hand on D'Jok shoulder as he freed himself from the embrace. Corso looked at Sonny, before he pointed Artie and Bennett to the various connection points of Clamps equipment. He knew Sonny would conduct the interviews to pinpoint the details they had not seen on video. He would take care of the rest.

"D'Jok, tell me everything that happend inside the holotrainer. Everything that you can remember. The more details you all have, the better. We will figure this out, we just need a starting point, the more details, the more sure we can be on what direction to chase down first"Sonny said calmly.

Corso, Bennett and Artie already knew what to do and had rigged their gear and connected it to the faulty holo trainer.

"We are ready to start Sonny, all the gear is hooked up "Corso said.

"Good. Clamp, bring up what you have Of any data while I speak to D'Jok, and any of you snow kids who has information to add from what happened inside the holo trainer. Let us sit down, and we will sift through this. Corso, make sure to copy all relevant information into the pirates database, and have the crew on the ship start any kind of sifting out of relevant information that is available. Hack into whereever you need to. This can not wait" Sonny said. By now, he had taken on a commander voice.

"Ok Sonny, I will get all the information up." Clamp said as he got ready to transfer all needed data to the pirates.

He started to press a lot of buttons in a sequenze to bring up the video files, and other error messages that had occured during the incident, so that Corso and the pirates could copy the information and have a closer look. Sonny turned his attention to the snowkids.

"Can anyone explain what happend inside the holotrainer?" Sonny asked, looking at the snow kids.

Tia raised her hand.

"Go ahead Tia" Sonny said mildly as he sat down with them.

"We enterd the new and improved holotrainer, thinking it would be safe, and took our usual positions on the pitch,as we were to help the galatick kids train. Then, As soon as the holo trainer closed up around us, a strange light, mixed with lightning bolts interfeered. It almost looked like the holo trainer malfunctioned. And since the lightning was intense, and we did not want to be harmed, We all huddled together on the middle of the pitch, to stay away from the lighning, fearing it would strike us. And as we all got close in a bundle,it was as if it had a life of its own. it looked like Mei first, then Micro Ice, and the galactik kids dissolved. They all started screaming in panic. Hush Sharky too!" Said Tia.

The others was not sure what to make of it,yet. Sonny had a very thoughtful expression on his face as he heard that. What Tia described sounded familiar, he just could not put his finger on why that was..yet.

"Did anyone else see anything distinct with this light? Colour, anything that stood out? it is not normal for a holo trainer to respond like this. The pirates also have one, we never had any such problems. This is having a feeling of being directed, from outside the room. Now the question is whom did it"Sonny said, looking at the group that sat in a half circle around him. he grabbed a chair that was free, so he could sit down.

Thran carefully raised his hand.

"I hope you wont be angry to hear this Sir, but the way they dissolved, I have seen it before. It looked like what your team, The pirates do, when they leave the pitch to avoid capture,the light was much the same"Thran had a sad look on his face when he said that.

"I am not accusing you or anything Sir, that is just what I saw." he said. Sonny knew this was none of his mens doing, but someone was possibly trying to put the blame on them. Wich would not be a first when you were a pirate.

"No offence taken Thran. But it may give us a clue though, and a possible direction to start the search" said Sonny.

D'Jok raised his hand.

"It was not the same colour as the pirates though, this was a more murky mix of green and yellow." he said.

Sonny frowned.

"Hmmm, Interesting detail D'Jok. I think it is time we have a closer look on the mystery light" Sonny said.

Then, he turned to Corso.

"Corso, Can you bring up a video file of how our players look like when they leave the pitch, then add the colour D'Jok described on top?"He asked.

Corso nodded.

"Will Do Sonny, it sounds like you got an idea already?" he asked.

Sonny nodded.

"Yes Corso, and I imagine so do you. There is one person that stands out in regard to this. And I hope for his sake, that it is not him"Sonny said. But the hard look in the normally calm hazel eyes of his did not spell good news. Corso knew Sonny was already leaning in a spesific direction, he was just looking for a few more hits to confirm his suspicion.

Corso nodded slowly.

"This sounds very familiar Sonny, and usually, familiar to me, is not a sign of good things to come." Corso muttered.

Sonny nodded that. He knew they would have to go on a rescue mission. The pirates were the only ones with the skills to do it. As the pirates logged the needed data, and made sure it was sent to their secure servers, they made ready to leave. They never stayed long in one place, especially not when Sonny himself was with them.

Sinedd had nothing to add to the discussion, his team mates had shared the same images he had seen, but he did have a request for the pirate chief.

"Mr Blackbones?"

He could feel the pirate leaders gaze on him as Sonny turned and looked directly at him. There was something about the pirate chief posture that demanded respect. Sinedd had the feeling Sonny was not a man you should be messing with.

"Yes Sinedd, anything you want to say? Did you see anything the others missed to tell?" The pirate chief asked, clearly still a commander, but friendly.

Now,Sonny rose from his seat now, clearly signalling he had the information he needed. and was preparing to leave as well. Being wanted by Technoid made him unable to stay anywhere for very long at the time, due to risk of detection.

"Yes Sir.I may not be best buddies with D'Jok, or even the most popular player on the team.I know I can be a difficult person to like, but I am trying to do better..." Sinedd stammered.

Sonny nodded. The newest member of the snow kids team was clearly still a bit worried around him.

"What is it you want to ask me Sinedd? There is no silly question here, just the one you did not ask" He said mildly, to help the young man calm down.

Sinedd looked down, before he raised his head and looked at the pirates infamous leader.

"I only recently found my family Sir. My real family.D'Jok and I have a simmilar background in many ways, but now, my little sister, Sunja is missing. She is the one that saved me Mr Blackbones, she made me do this turn around inmy life, and go back to where I belong, and make peace with the past. I am asking to come with you. for this mission.I need to save my sister. please" Sinedd finally said, looking straight at Sonny.

Sonny and Corso looked at eachother.

This was a most unusual request. D'Jok also stood up.

"Dad, I will also ask to come along. You asked me to be a leader,and take my responsibillity seriously. This is me, doing just that" he said, looking at his father.

Sonny did not like that idea at all. It was sure to be dangerous, and if there was anything he did not want to expose his son to, it was that. But D'Jok looked at him.

"This should never have happend to these kids Dad.I promised them, they would be safe, and I could not make good on that promise. I am their coach, I ask permission to assist in this mission. I need to redeem myself in my teams eyes, my own, their parents and maybe also, even your eyes, Dad" he said.

Corso could see Sonny was not happy about request. But D'Jok had presented a very strong case, and this time, he needed help to persuade his father. and there was only one person whos opinion Sonny would listen to and take into consideration in this matter. He needed to help the kid some this time.

"Sonny, may I say something?" Corso said silently.

In Matters such as this, he would make or break both Sinedd and D'Joks case. Sonny had not decided on the matter yet, he could tell he was still taking it in, weighing the pros against the cons. This was the best time for him to weigh in on the matter. Sonny nodded.

"I am listening Corso." he said, waiting for Corso to say what was on his mind.

Corso stood up.

"Sonny, You know how I feel about these things. And normally, I would say no, we both know this could potentially be dangerous. But this time,I will advice differently. It sounds to me, both of them has strong reasons to come with us this time. For both of them, I think this could be a learning exerience, and grow a better bond between them. I also believe they could actually be of help to the rescue operation. And as an added Bonus, Sonny, I know you and D'Jok dont get much time together, but given the situation right now, here is a golden opourtunity for the two of you to do just that. You wont have to worry about Technoid all the time. Onboard the ship, you can relax and spend some father son time together, free of any worry of detection!I know you Sonny, this is something that would benefit you and your son as well. And they could both be helpful with the kids, who knows how scary we pirates may come across to small children. This is what I think, but in the end, it is your call" Corso said.

"Hmmm." Sonny turned his back for a moment, weghing the pros and cons of the matter in his mind.

What Corso said was true. This would be a gift to have this much time with his son. Sonny made a call and with that decission in mind, turned to face his son.

"Ok D'Jok, Sinedd. I will give you the chance on this rescue mission. But know that I am the captain of ship. There will be chores on this journey, even for two rookies like you.I will expect from you to abide by the rules that applies. And there will be no questioning the orders I give."Sonny said, a bit sharper than he had intended.

D'Jok looked serious.

"As you say Dad."D'Jok said.

Sinedd also agreed.

"It will be as you ask Mr. Blackbones."he said.

Sonny nodded.

"Very well then. Artie, take D'Jok and Sinedd to the ship, make them take only what they need for the trip. Advice them on the rules, you should know them by heart now" Sonny ordered.

"Ok Sonny, on my way." Artie saluted, before he let the two snow kids lead the way to their hotelrooms to pack. Before they left, Sonny looked up.

"Sinedd?" he said mildly.

"Sir?" Sinedd stopped as Sonny spoke his name.

"On board, we all prefer to be informal,Call me Sonny." Sinedd smiled.

"Will do..Sonny." Sinedd smiled, clearly more at ease with this.

Sonny smiled.

"Off you go kid." he said.

As soon as the two was out the room, Sonny turned his attention to Clamp.

"Bring it up on the screen Clamp, so we all can see it. " he asked.

Sonny waited as the images images appeared on screen. What they saw stunned them.

"I have never seen anything like it" said Bennett.

"What is that light? Is that a kind of flux?"Corso wondered.

"I belive so, but it is not one I have ever seen before",said Clamp.

Sonny was studying it.

"It looks nothing like any flux used in the cup,If so, it is from a planet yet unknown" he stated.

Corso was thoughtfull.

"And yet, it is familliar Sonny, very familiar...If I could only recall where I have seen this before..." Corso said, as he seemed lost in thought.

"Corso? Do you know this from somewhere?" Sonny looked at his second in command. Corso nodded.

"Yes, but I cant remember from where. What I mean Sonny, is I have seen this flux pattern, but it wasn 't used for football. It had a purpose, a very dark and destructive purpose. It is a flux, but it was weaponized during the wars. If only I could remember who did it" Corso said, with a dark expression on his face.

"Ah,I see. Try not to push Corso, We will deal with it during the trip. It will come to us, I am sure" Sonny nodded.

Corso was a former flux war soldier, who had nearly gotten himself killed in an ambush. Corso was not one to speak of it openly, but a few late nights with a lot of alchol had made Corso loosen his togue, and Sonny had learned the full Story of Corsos escape from the flux war and how he became a pirate and wanted now was not the time to dwell on that.

"How long ago was this?"The pirate chief looked at Clamp, as he reviewed the footage of the incident.

"About an hour, according to the time stamp.I forgot to check the time,when it all happened. All I got is what my computers says" said Clamp.

"Hmm..."Sonny rubbed his chin

"Bennett, can you track this flux?" he asked.

"Yes Sonny, but it is starting to dissolve. We dont have much time if we are to try to follow it" Bennett said.

Sonny nodded.

"I was afraid of that. We will have to give chase, and fast. Corso, order everyone to their post. We will need to move fast." he said.

"Right Sonny" Corso nodded and started to remove the gear they had used.

Sonny looked to the screen. He could not explain why or even how, but his pirate intuition was already sounding the alarms, and loudly. And now, D'Jok would come with for the trip. Had he made a mistake allowing this?Sonny heard steps in the hallway, indicating someone had enterd the room.D'Jok stood in the doorway, besides Sinedd. Both boys had packed a small bag with the most necessary belongings.

"We are ready to go." they both said.

Sonny nodded.

"Artie, show them the bunk beds in the barracks. They both meet in the Galley two hours before each meal. Tin can will put them to work for this trip, I need you on computers Artie. We will need all the manpower we can get on cracking this one open." Sonny said.

Aarch looked to Sonny.

"This really is a strange situation Sonny, I have never seen anything like this before. " he stated.

Sonny agreed.

"It is unusual, and it is not purely a a flux doing this either. We will have to move as fast as the ship will allow us. Clamp, I want you to set a new frequenzy for the stealth mode calls." Sonny said as he walked over to his friend.

Sonny looked at his friend as he gave him a note with the new frequenzy. Clamp said nothing, just added the new frequenzy. Sonny turned to follow Corso who was waiting for him.

"Sonny?" sounded a voice behind him.

It was Tia. He looked at her.

"You once saved my parents, I know I can count on you. But I will still ask you, please be careful.I get a feeling this will be more dangerous than you see, we need our friends back, but we also need you and your men. Stay safe will you." she said.

Sonny nodded.

"Thank you Tia."he smiled.

She nodded.

"Best not keep your men waiting. " she smiled

Sonny winked at her before he left the room with Corso.

* * *

"We are ready Sonny, we can leave at any time" said Bennett.

"Good. "Sonny had a full over wiew of the ships panels from his seat.

"Artie, go tell our rookies to get ready, and bring them here to the bridge during take off. It is time they get to learn the rules around here. and that they are lowest on the food chain, no matter who they are" Sonny smiled, making it clear, D'Jok would not receive special treatment during this trip. The roles would be captain and rookie, not father and son.

Artie smiled at that.

"I am only happy to be out of the galley for once, Tin can needs his mood sensors replaced again." Artie complained.

Corso laughed.

"With you around Artie, anyone can have mood swings every now and then, even robots" he commented dryly.

Artie knew better than to tease back.

"All are at their posts, and engines a, b and c are running at maximum power Sonny," Corso informed.

"Ok Corso. Take us out of here, we got no time to loose"...

* * *

D'Jok looked around. Even though this was his fathers pirate ship, he had not been onboard before. It did not look all that big from the outside, but inside it was huge. And with plenty of control panels he had no idea how workd. Sinedd looked around as well, impressed with what he saw.

"I got to admitt D'Jok, your father is stricht but I like him. This could turn dangerous, but he still let us come with" he said.

D'Jok said nothing as he looked out window.

"Dad is awesome, it has been something else to meet him. Im proud he is my dad. But I expect he will lay down the law onboard. There wont be any special treatment, even if I am his son. We just need to remember why we are here." he said.

D'Jok was looking around the lounge. This was clearly where the pirates ate their meals. several huge tables in groups of 5 seats was neatly in order. Then, Artie came into the lounge, followed by Sonny.

"D'Jok, Sinedd. Lets sit down and get a few rules clear."Sonnys voice was mild but clearly the one of a commander.

As both sat down, Corso came to join them. Sonny remained standing up.

"I am not going to lie to you boys. We have no real idea of what it is that has happend, or why it happened. For now, we will be following the trail that this mysterious light or flux has left, hoping it has not dissolved, while we try to learn more of whom is behind it, and why. Artie will be working a lot on getting more info on the flux like trail and follow it for as long as we can. When we do fly out, we will have to fly fast. This can get bumpy. This is Corso's area of expertise. All three of my team will be on the bridge during the chase, I, as the Captain, will be giving the two of you the guided tour on board. Now, rule number one. we are flying in stealth mode, That means, no electronics or any device that allows for tracking or radio waves is allowed on, when Stealth mode is deployed. If there is any chance of Technoid detection, this rule is strongly enforced. Rule number two pertains to your chores while on this trip. I expect you to follow orders and have the meals ready at the time table you are given. Even pirates operate on time tables, to keep a routine going. If we were all to sleep at the same time, and we were tracked down..I dont need to tell you what trouble that would leave us in, do I? And with the severity of the sentences some of us face, we are not too keen on trying what that would feel like"Sonny informed.

D'Jok and Sinedd nodded that they understood. Then, Sinedd raised his hand.

"Yes Sinedd ?" Sonny looked at him.

"Sonny, would detection by Technoid lead to the all pirates and everyone onboard getting arrested? or is it just you as the chief that is at risk of being locked up?" Sinedd asked.

Corso decided to answer.

"Its a good question Sinedd. We assume all on board would be locked up. But we dont know for sure. We have managed to avoid detection by Technoid till now, so we have never tested what it would practically mean for us to be arrested. For myself, I dont really care too much, most of us dont. What worries us as pirates is Sonny's safety. Sonny is the heart and soul of our organization, not to mention, our choosen leader. All on board are loyal to Sonny, and would give their own life to protect him. If we were boarded by Technoid, we assume they would make an attempt to arrest and secure Sonny first. Wich is why, the number one priority would be to get Sonny safely out before they could get to him. So, the answer is, as far as we know, A clear no, it would not lead to an arrest of the ones on board the ship. Our ships are fast, but Technoid is getting better. We stay at a distance, because, if we ere found, it carries a risk that they may be able to track us down later, and possibly be able to trap Sonny. if they could get the ships identification number and place a tracker on us, It would mean they had eyes on Sonny. He has a past with them, and that only makes them more eager to try to capture him, and us more determined to keep that from happening. We try to make that as hard as possible for them to find us, as it is not healthy for anyone, should Sonny getcaptured by Technoid. The punishment that awaits us is known for most of us. if we are ever captured. Just not in Sonnys case. His file has been sealed, with heavy encryption our hackers are still trying to decode. That alone indicates things I dont want to speak of. We wont let anything happen to Sonny, unless we know what is in store for him. If need be, we would send him off in a smaller undetectable ship, and have another ship in our fleet pick him up, and bring him to safety. He is too important and valuable to us to allow for his capture to ever take place" Corso stated.

Sinedd nodded.

"I get it." he said as he sat down, and took out a picture frame.

D'Jok could see a picture of Mei. It made him turn away. But Sonny noticed his sons reaction. The loss of his girlfriend hurt his son. And he was not all sure how to find his footing.

"Dad, I came to think of something, it may be nothing, but..." he sighed heavily.

Sonny sat down next to his son.

"What is it D'Jok? Tell me." Sonny asked.

D'Jok stared at the floor,

"Maybe I am just paranoid, but, have you seen the fact that all the ones that was abducted,actually have close ties to me?I am wondering if this is someone trying to punish me for something I did. And that could possibly narrow the list of suspects"he said.

Sonny and Corso looked at eachother. Sonny nodded. His son was on the trail of something here.

"There is a pattern, Micro Ice, your best friend, Mei, your ex girlfriend, and the team you are coaching, all abducted. It would seem someone is going at you over something. Now we just need to find out whom" he stated.

Corso agreed.

"Could this be someone exacting revenge on D'Jok Sonny?or perhaps, trying to stick it to you, through your son? if so, the list of suspects is very short, and rules out most of our enemies, including Technoid. They would not dare touch D'Jok,They now you would come for them if they did." Corso said.

Sonny nodded.

"I don't need to say it, you already know what I am thinking Corso." he said.

Corso was clenching his fists. Sonny was foucsed more on why these spesific individuals was taken. DJok had a point. Corso looked up.

"We need more info Sonny, we don't have the full picture yet." he stated, somewhat frustrated.

Sonny nodded.

"Corso, head back to the bridge. I will take care of the boys. until we know more, we are running in circles. Lets hold of on making any conclusions till we know more" he said.

"Right Sonny." Corso saluted as he turned to head for the ships bridge.

"Do what you have decided to do with the boys Sonny, And once that is done,In shilohs name, make sure to get some rest, I know your sleep schedule. I will check in on you later. and if you are not sleeping, I will make sure to help with the matter, if you want it?" Corso suggested with a small smile.

Sonny nodded this. He knew what Corso was getting at. And any offer of help, he would take Corso up on.

"Ok,D'Jok, Sinedd, follow me"Sonny said as he gave the boys a tour of the ship that would serve as their home for the time being.

* * *

Magnus Blade could see the pirate ship that passed them. A replacement had been put in place relatively fast. To be expected really. Corsos paranoia for Sonnys safety would have made this happen faster than normal. But now, the pirates under Sonnys command was sure to be pissed off at him.

"Still going on the drive of revenge Sonny.. it is most certainly leading you right into trouble. But this time,you wont foil my plan. In fact, you were quite inspiring to the idea. If you will cooperate,you may have a future among the new pirates organization I intend to build. I will take up on what you led the pirates too. It is time this galaxy has a supreme ruler, me", he mused.

"Magnus!"

The once leader of the pirates turned to his second in command. A pirate who saw Sonny Blackbones as a weaker leader than him, and wanted power restored to Magnus reign.

"Yes?" he said as he turned around.

"We are ready to start the plan. The largest Asteroid is having a core, and the holotrainer is ready." the human pirate informed.

"Very well."Magnus rubbed his beard.

"You may have destroyed two versions of flux Sonny, but this one will be different. "Magnus had an evil grin.

"By the time this is over, Sonny Blackbones will have to step down from his role as a pirate leader."The former pirate thought out loud.

His second in command looked at him.

"Not all pirates was happy about my excile, and it is time Sonny learns, his actions does have repercautions" Magnus said trough grinding teeth.

* * *

"Where are we?" Micro Ice, Mei and the Galactik kids was trying to make sense of their surroundings.

Hush Sharky was being his usual self, up and down, taking photoes for his scoops. Mei had found a door.

"Hey, let us out of here. We got rights." She yelled.

"All will be explained in time," said a voice from a speaker.

"Who are you?" Mei demanded to know.

"Why, I am your new promoter off course, since you will now assume the role as coach and assistant for the new team, they will become the most powerfull team in the galaxy." The voice said.

"I think you got it backwards," said Micro Ice.

"Mei and I already play for the strongest team in the galaxy, The snowkids." he yelled,slightly angry.

The voice laughed an evil laugh.

"The snowkids may be three times galactik champions, but a fourth win is impossible. You have become too old for that level of play , the next generation, your galactik kids, will be the next heirs to that throne." the voice said.

Micro Ice was being defiant.

"You know who the coach of the galactik kids is right?" he asked.

"And DJok is also the son of the pirates infamous leader, Sonny Blackbones, not to mention, my best friend. The pirates will come for you"he yelled.

The voice on the speaker just laughed.

"I know full well who DJok is the son of. And bringing him here would have brought Sonny here as well. wich I am not interested in doing, at least not yet" the voice mused.

Mei could tell the kids was afraid.

"And how do you know Sonny Blackbones wont 'come anyway?The pirates are close friends with the snowkids." she said. The voice grew eerily low.

"Should Sonny and his men attempt to free you, he has a big surprise coming his way. I would advice Sonny to think twice about coming here" it said.

Micro Ice was turning angry.

"No one can take down Sonny Blackbones and the pirates. They will have your hide for this" he yelled with clenched fists.

The voice had one last ominous message.

" Except Micro Ice, the only one that knows Sonny Blackbones weakness, he would be able to stop him. And I am that someone that knows Sonny Blackbones weakness".

The room was eerily silent after this, and the kids looked scared at them, Micro Ice looked to Mei.

"Should we try to call anyone?" Micro Ice asked. Mei showed him her holo watch.

" No signal Micro Ice." she Ice leaned towards the door.

"Now what do we do?"he looked at him. "We try to message Corso, if possible".

* * *

"I found the trail Sonny, but it is growing cold fast." Bennett said, he was focused on the flux trail. Till now, the trail had been strong enought to not pose problems tracking, but they had reached an area of crossing solar winds, and this was breaking the trail apart"Try to get a lock on it Bennett, we cant loose the track, if we do, we will not be able to find the abducted kids" Sonny said as he looked over at his young associate. Corso had working with the same trail, but from a different angle."Sonny, you might want to see this." he called out.

Sonny walked over to Corso, D'Jok and Sinedd right behind him. The tone in Corsos voice had alerted Sonny something was up."What is it Corso? Show me" Sonny asked.

"I don't know Sonny, but the trail...can you see how it is making a turn here?" Corso showed him. Sonny looked at Corso."This is no coincidence Corso," he said.

Corso grunted."And what's more,this flight route isn't new either, at least not to the pirates."he was lost in thoughts. Technoid had been sitting ducks in this area. It wasn't far from Shiloh, and with many possible escape routes. A paradise for a wanted pirate. A memory came to his mind.

"Now Sonny, its your turn. Show me that you can do this raid on your own."Magnus said, as he had laid a hand on to Sonny's just nodded.

"Corso, we will intercept at asteroid Z 11, make sure the back up ships are in place,Take no prisoners, just the cargo!" he had nodded when he saw Sonny take the lead. His young intended successor handed out the escape routes, and was in full control of this mission and raid."Very well Sonny, you truly have the makings of a leader. One day, you may even take my place. You are still rough around the edges, but with a bright head. You are truly a gift to The pirates as a group".

Sonny shook his head. Corso looked at him. He knew Sonny often had headaches, but it had seemed to get better once D'Jok had enterd his life. He had seen a change in Sonny after he reconnected with Clamp too. He was more calm, not acting out of fury all the time. In all honesty, Corso liked this change in his friend. He had shared bunk beds with Sonny for years,and knew what kind of nightmares he could experience. This was why his son was placed elsewhere. The headaches seemed to have subsided, and almost perished, and Sonny had become a lot more relaxed. But now, Sonny appeared tensed, like an old memory had come back and he was now making a strategy.

"Stay with the trail. We need to know where it leads to find out more." Sonny ordered,as he made way towards his cabin to have some hours or rest."As you wish Sonny" Corso smiled as Sonny left the bridge.

* * *

D'Jok had been sleeping but the bunk beds was not nearly as comfortable as a hotel bed. The pirates was clearly used to a more rough life than DJ'ok. After he had tossed and turned for a while, he eventually gave up on sleeping. So many thoughts in his got up, and got dressed, and went to the pirates lounge, where he stared out porthole, at the millions of stars on the dark skyline. Then, he heard footsteps entering the lounge."Trouble sleeping D'Jok?" Sonny came up beside him."Yes Dad," he laughed."Its normal, especially with what is happening rightnow. When things turns to chaos and you try to make sense of it all. We are alone here D'Jok,I was on my way to get some sleep, I got the watch duty early, But I sense you are worried son, want to tell me about it?" Sonny asked.D'Jok nodded silently, and walked over to the couch. Sonny sat down next to him.

"What is troubling you son?" He asked mildly."I feel like I am loosing it Dad, like there is something to all of this that I should see, but I just can't connect the dots. it frustrates me"D'Jok sighed. Sonny could only nodd in understanding. He could relate to his sons experience."Son, blaming yourself will do no good. Take it from someone that lived it. Life is hard sometimes, the one thing you can do to control it, is to do your best with the cards you were dealt, someone once told me that, many years ago. I found it to hold profound truth." he smiled, trying to ease his sons worry.

D'Jok stared at the ground."I keep thinking of all the things I could have done differently." he sighed. Sonny nodded slowly. He could see how the guilt was gripping D'Jok."Listen DJok. Guilt, I understand, belive me,I spent over 15 years living it. And I can't change it any more than you Can. All I can do, is to try to change the present, and try to make the galaxy a better place to live." Sonny said.D'Jok sighed heavily."I don't know why Dad, it is as if I feel this thing started the moment I took on Lord Phoenix offer," he said."Hmmm," Sonny nodded slowly.

"That is possible D'Jok. I too know the man that you know as Lord Phoenix. But I know him under a different name, and a dark past."Sonny confessed.D'Jok looked at him."Dad, who is Lord Phoenix really?I feel there is something I need to know about him. Where do you know him from?"D'Jok asked, looking at his father. Sonny knew he could not hide this information from him."D'Jok, I wasn't always the leader of the pirates. Once upon a time, I came to them, scared after having seen the ship your mother was in shot down, thinking you and her both were dead.I ended up in Shiloh, were I came under the wing of a pirate, a ruthless man, named Magnus Blade. He was my mentor, and also my protector, while I was new to a life on the run from Technoid,Griefstruck at the loss of your mother, and you,and angry for having my entire life, all I knew, taken from me, and having to start from scratch. Magnus, and also, Corso, saw a potential in me that I failed to see myself. They took me in, as a brother, and Magnus, along with Corso,trained me, to become the pirate I am today. It was a simple life for a while, but one that was more about making money, and stealing. And slowly, the pirates did not feel satisfied with money alone. They wanted the truth, about lost loved ones. But Magnus would not go that direction. He was a money person. This led to the pirates choosing me for their leader.A voting that Magnus refused to accept. As a result it came to a duel between him and me, A duel that I won, and for him, it meant exile as he got hurt during the fight, an eye that was blinded. He managed to escape us, and we never found a trace of him. Untill we came to Paradisia to hide from Technoid , that was when we learned that Lord Phoenix was Magnus Blades new identity. Both Corso and I felt he was familiar somehow, but he had changed his appearance since Corso and I saw him last, but deep down, he had not changed at all. And you remember what happened on paradisa" Sonny said silently.

He stood up, and walked over to a panel by the door to the lounge. He pressed a sequence of buttons, and D'Jok saw a face appear on a screen. A Man wearing a black and white mask, but strangely familiar."This man, was Magnus Blade, the most ruthless man in the galaxy, and then, the leader of the pirates, the one that saved me from Technoids capture", said Sonny.D'Jok looked at the mask he was carrying."Dad, there is something about this man, I have seen him before," said D'Jok.

Sonny nodded."Yes D'Jok you have." Sonny pressed a few buttons, and more Images showed up on the screen. They where images that was shown of lord Phoenix on Paradisia,and the old Magnus blade behind a mask, with Corso, and Sonny, a very much younger version of them both. D'Jok was baffled.

"I have seen him, He looks like Lord Phoenix," said D'Jok."That is because he is Lord Phoenix D'Jok,"Sonny said and showed the few pictures the pirates had from this part of their life,and from the rescue mission on Paradisia."So, you did not go to Shiloh with Clamp, you went back to Paradisia." D'Jok said.

Sonny nodded."That is where we learned more about the explosion,the multi flux collected from the deep arena and dome stadium, among other things, and also, where we fabricated an anti multi flux to use against them. Turned out, Magnus was not all villain back then, he was duped, and we came to his aide, only for him to double cross us later, stealing from us" he said.

D'Jok looked at him."Dad, Clamp told me they thought he was the one that poisoned you on Paradisa. Did you ever find out who did that to you?" he smiled mildly.

"And I understand why they thought that. It all happened in Magnus office on Paradisia. Corso also reccognized Magnus,we both did when we arrived at Paradisia,but we could not know for sure what he was up to. But Magnus was not the one that poisoned me, That was another creature,I am not sure what she is, nor where she came from. All I know, is her name was Vega,"Sonny sighed.

"The poisoning could have been avoided, if I had not insisted on going alone that was right to be mad over that one. I did put myself at risk unnceesary" he said.D'Jok looked at him. His father had just shown him a glimpse of a very human trait he even recognized in himself."Tell me, Dad, what happened that night, please" he asked.

Sonny nodded. He owed his son an explanation for the scare he had unintentionally given him."I went to see Magnus alone, Corso was not happy with the choice I made, but at the time, we did not know who he really was, or of his accomplice, Vega. All we knew was Rocket had suffered severe resonance, wich was odd, as to our knowledge, no one had a sample of Rockets flux. But we found out, there was multiflux being made, whoever doublecrossed Bleylock, leading to his death, was wheeling and dealing on Paradisia. And Magnus was being played for a fool. The only reason we made it to Paradisia, was that he invited us. Long story short, I went to see him, to find out more. And during our talk, when Vega felt I knew more than I should, she attacked me from behind, injecting me with a very strong poison. It litterally took only seconds for me to pass out. Magnus revealed later, he had activated my distress signal to have my men find me. Then, he followed you, to Dame Simbais clinic, where he waited till I was alone, to have me injected with the antidote for the poison." Sonny explained.

D'Jok looked at him, serious."In that case I agree with Corso Dad,And I am glad that Lord Phoenix was the one that triggerd your distress signal to have your men retrive you from where you were dumped. If he had not triggerd your distress signal, we may not have found you in time, I could have lost you." he said, all of a sudden looking like a lost little boy.

Sonny looked at his son."Yes D'Jok, I am aware of that.I talked to Magnus, when we were chasing down Harris,And I learned why I came to and recoverd as fast as I did. Corso told me it was looking bad for a while." he said.D'Jok nodded."I was told you were in such serious condition Dame Simbai kept you at the clinic, and would not allow you to be moved." he said.

Sonny nodded."Corso also told me you came by daily to check on me, after you were made aware of my situation. This was also how Magnus found out where I was. He followed you to the clinic, that is what he told us, he had planned it, ever since I fell unconscious out in his office. A pirate will always be a pirate in one form or another, He just needed to know where my men had taken me to get medical help, as soon as he knew, he just had to wait till I was alone in the room, to come to my aide "Sonny admitted.

D'Jok was shocked at what he heard."But the clinic was guarded. He could not have gotten in. And if he had not wanted to help, he could have killed you" he said. Sonny nodded."He is a former pirate D'Jok, he has ways not even the pirates themselves could detect. As for the antidote. he did it because he needed my help. But things has changed, after he stole one of Our ships, The Black Manta. We had to wait a few days for a replacement. Corso was beyond stressed as we were stranded in Genesis stadium, fearing Technoid would track us down and identify our hideout. he calmed when he learned the truth about something else..and agreement I made with Duke Maddox though. There is no need to worry, at least not about that", Sonny explained.

"And what agreement is it you talk about Dad? As far as I can see, you are still wanted for five million standard units."D'Jok pointed nodded.

"That is just a smokescreen really. I had a late night meeting with Duke Maddox in person, and explained what was truly going on. As a result,There is a truce now, between Duke Maddox and the pirates. As for the bounty, it will remain up though and that is by my own choice D'Jok. When Duke Maddox learned the truth about Harris, he made me the offer to take me off the wanted list.I declined as I know it would not last, one mishap, and it would be back to square one. We can talk, but from a distance. He will still attempt to capture me, and I will keep doing what I always do, stay one step or more, ahead of them" Sonny said.

D'Jok nodded."The most important thing to me Dad, is that you stay safe.I may not have been on board for long,but I see the care you have for your men, and they for you, They are your family, besides me, and like you said, that is where you belong. And I belong with the Snow kids." he Said. Sonny placed a hand on D'Joks shoulder.

"You are growing son, this humble side of you is what makes you a team leader, a coach and a friend to rely on. I am glad to see that you have a side that is less bigheaded than the one you show in interviews. I believe there is a growing bond between you and Sinedd as well. A great leader unites his peers, and seeks to overcome division at any cross road. Keep that in mind, and you will once again take the captains role in your team, when it is made available" he smiled.D'Jok nodded."Slow, but steady progress. I guess I learn the hard way. But at least I learn" he smiled nodded.

"Its late D'Jok,you best get some rest, you and Sinedd will be getting up early to prepare breakfast. I will see you both then. After that, you are off duty untill the next meal is to be prepared, or something else turns up. Should you need to talk to me, I will either be at my cabin, resting, or ask Corso, he will tell you where to find me."Sonny smiled as he got up to head to his cabin."Ok Dad."D'Jok smiled as they parted to get some shut eye.

* * *

Corso could not free himself from the thought that the course the flux trail was taking was a very familiar one, and what that told him was that it was trouble. But he had no evidence to back it up."Artie, I need you to do something, "he looked at him."Sure Corso, what do you need ?" he asked. Corso said nothing, just sent him the file with the old pirates routes."I need you to check this, to see if it is a so, I got a feeling we will soon see Magnus Blade again, and it will be somewhere we dont like." Corso nodded and did as he asked. Minutes later, he had the answer."It's a match Corso." he said,

Corso gritted teeths. He studied the map. Bennett looked at it."GAH, Corso. Do you see what I see?"he asked. Corso nodded."It leads back to the outskits of Shiloh, the bigger, more planet like pieces. Why would Magnus go there?There is nothing there but Asteroids," Bennett said as he rubbed his chin. Corso did the same as his face hardend.

"Sonny said he seemed to miss being a pirate when he was aboard The Black Manta. Could it be he misses it even more than Sonny saw? That he may actually cause rivalry within our own territory?" Artie Asked. Corso 's face hardend.

"I hope we are wrong Artie, if not, I fear that he will be causing us trouble. And that is the kind of trouble we dont need, and a lasting headache for Sonny, whom has enough as it is" Corso looked resigned." No matter What kind of pirates we are, trouble follow us anywhere" he said.

"The way Sonny once challenged him for the title as leader , We may find that Magnus may now challenge Sonny, for the title of leader. If Sonny loose, Magnus would turn him over to Technoid." Corso admitted and Bennett was shocked."That will never happen Corso, Everyone here is loyal to Sonny.I would still stay by him even if he lost, helping him rebuild. I owe him that much. And if Sonny was to be captured by Technoid, we would never see him again.I dont even want to think of that possibility"Artie said."It is very likely they would kill him." Bennett said nodded.

We will do everything to keep that from happening. Corso copied Artys finds into a smaller device."I will go tell Sonny".

* * *

D'Jok was sound asleep, as Sinedd woke up. He got dressed, and walked to the lounge. There, he stoped to look at the stars, as the ship was silently making its way forward. He took out the medallion his parents had given him. It hurt, what would they think of him. He was now feeling responsible for Sunja, his sister. He had already messed up his life a lot with the shadows, before Sunja entered, and Rocket had convinced him to return to the Snow Kids. It had felt good to win the third galactik cup final with them. He felt changed, in a way he had not thought was possible. He also had the support of Mei, his girlfiend,even he and D'Jok now was friends, and had called a truce. But would this last or would he even see them again, nothing was ever more uncertain.

" Enjoying the wiew kid?"a voice said behind him. As he looked up, he could see Corso, the second in command onboard approach him. Sinedd bit his teeth. great, now he was sure to get a scolding for being up this late."Just getting a breath of fresh air. It is a bit hard to sleep with all that is going on. I hoped a walk would help" he said. Corso looked at him, Sceptical."Something wrong with the bed, or is it the company?" he asked."No, I don't have a problem with DJok" he stated."Good, the last thing you want, is anything that upsets Sonny Blackbones. And his son means everything to him. That is the one big weakness Sonny has. Anyone holds his son, Sonny would do anything to save him, even give up his own life. he almost did once. It wont happen again"Corso looked at him.

"Us pirates on board,we are happy Sonny and D'Jok gets some time together as father and son,even if it is not ideal." Corso said as he sat down. Sinedd nodded."Sonny being a wanted man doesn't exactly make it easy for them to have a normal father and son situation I guess." he said.

Corso nodded that."We all like D'Jok as a player. And Sonny himself has also gotten a new purpose in life after he found out he was a father. It has done him good. Everyone here wants the two of them to have more father and son time,but with the bounty for Sonnys capture, It is not possible to do. Sonny is at risk everytime he leaves the ship. We have been lucky so far, but fear there will come a time where Sonny will get captured, where he will be held captive by Technoid, or worse"he said as he looked at him.

"I have always wonderd, when Did Sonny learn of this truth?That he had a teenage son" Sinedd looked at him. Corso grinned. That was one of the more positive surprises the pirates ever had."D'Jok turned up in an interwiew with Callie after loosing to the Shadows. The message was meant for Micro Ice, who was at Shiloh with us.D'Jok used his bracelet, given to him by his birth mother,to ask Micro Ice to return to the Snow kids. Micro Ice got the message, but Sonny was also watching that interwiew,he reccognized the bracelet and realized that if D'Jok was alive, there was a chance his wife was too. For Sonny, it became a drive to protect the snow kids from that point on. He was already aware of Clamp, and now, he needed to get to talk to D'Jok. the snow kids had the meta flux in them, Something you should be tested for too. It is not very healthy for you in the long run. Even Sonny was tested for residue of it, as he was close to the epicenter during the blast, and survived. Sonny and Clamp had to intervine before General Bleylock acted, to remove the meta flux from their bodies, it was already making them sick. That is when Sonny got to learn the truth from D'Jok, he had his chance for the first conversation in the hallways of the hotel,close to our case he needed to make a quick escape." Corso sighed.

"Had his wife been alive,Sonny would have left us,no matter what the risk was, to go be with her and D' Jok. Or they would have joined him and us.I can't blame him. If given that choice, Every pirate on board would have understood the risk,we would have let him go from our ranks,butwould have made sure to stay around in case he would need help in the start. We also would have helped him get by and hide until a new secret identity could have been established for him"Corso looked at Sinedd.

"But D'Jok s birth mom, she was not alive. Maya is a fostermother to D'Jok. That must have been devestating for Sonny to hear" Sinedd shook his head. He could relate to what the pirate chief had been through, and also D'Jok. Both of them separated from their birth parents, being alone without them for years, only for D'Jok to find his father, and he found his parents whom thought him dead, the same way Sonny had thought with his son. The paralells between them was striking. Corso sighed, as he shook his head.

"Sadly not. She died giving birth to D'Jok. It was hard for Sonny to hear that, finding D'Jok alive raised the hope he could start over with them. But the good thing is, D'Jok learned he had a father,not just any father, but the leader of the pirates. Sonny had to learn to be a parent to a teenage son.I am impressed at how well he has adjusted. It has taken them some time to come to terms with things. It is not always easy to father a teenager, I have seen Sonny frustrated more than once over D'Joks behaviour, but does his best to meet with D'Jok in the off seasons and on Genesis. Akillian..it is a place of bad memories for Sonny, a haunted place so to say. There is a strong love between father and son. That we can all see. And it has given Sonny the will to fight that he would normally have lost by now. To have a child changes you as a man, it certainly did with Sonny." Corso smiled.

Sinedd nodded."I can see it. I was told a lot of negative things about Sonny by Bleylock,when I agreed to work for him. But clearly, Sonny is not the guy Bleylock described. He seems very calm and kind"Sinedd mused.

Corso nodded." Bleylock never knew Sonny the way the pirates do. Sonny can be a fierce adversary to deal with, but if you happen to know him,you know he has a heart of gold. The snow kids is a team Sonny pays particular attention to, not just because of his son, but because he has met them all when we dealt with the meta flux. He even has helped several of them. Tia, with rescuing her parents, and Thran went with us when Lord Phoenix rescued. Sonny was even helped by Micro Ice who has been on a trip with us, but he wont remember it", grinned Corso.

Sinedd grinned too, "why, he bumped his head and forgot." Sinedd smirked."Not exactly, but we erased the memory of his time with us. To protect not for him that day,Technoid would have captured Sonny, possibly had him killed, Micro Ice saved his life."Corso said,Sinedd nodded slowly.

"Micro Ice has great admiration for The Pirates, will it be strange to have him back on board?" he laughed. Corso chuckled"I imagine he and Artie will have matters to discuss,D'Jok as well. When it comes to Micro Ice, we all like him,he would have made a great pirate,but Sonny would never have allowed him to join us. Even if he saved Sonny from getting killed." Corso looked at Sinedd.

"I don't get why Sonny was at the aarch academy in the first place."Sinedd commented. Corso nodded that. It was an old story, so he could safely share it."Sonny had reccognized Clamp, and he tried to make contact on Shiloh,but Technoid caused for that to become too dangerous. I almost would say they knew he would be here at that time. But Sonny is not known for tossing in the towel easily, so he continued to try to reach Clamp, and if not for Micro Ice, they surely would have taken him,and possibly been able to kill him."he said.

Sinedd nodded.  
"And you don't know what waits in his case, if he is captured, do you"he stated. Corso looked at him. How would he know that, unless.."You seem to know alot kid, who told you about this."he asked slightly concerned. Sinedd looked at him."General Bleylock. He knew what plans was laid for Sonnys imprisonment, should they every succeed at capturing him"Corso realised that Sinedd possibly had information they needed.

"So, Sinedd,if you know anything about what will happen if Sonny is taken,the pirates would appreciate knowing of it. It would make it easier for us to protect Sonny, it is vital we know what will happen if they manage to bring him in." he said with soft smile. Well, soft for him that nodded.

"I am not with the Technoids, I will happily tell you. The way things is now, I am in debt to the pirates and Sonny,for helping me find my sister and bring her home." Corso laid a hand on Sinedds arm."Sit down Sinedd, and let me know.I will inform Sonny of this later. Right now, he needs to rest." he said.

Sinedd looked at Corso."You really care deeply for him as a friend do you not." he nodded.

"Sonny and I have a long history together. Lets leve it at that, there is nothing I would not do to keep him out of harms way."Corso nodded.

"Sonny is truly lucky to have friends like you I know for sure is, if he is captured, there is no impending death sentence for him at least. Technoid view him as too valuable for that. They will not place him in a normal prison either. They figure he would escape that. What I know is, that there is a special compound made ready, highly guarded, where Sonny would be imprisoned. They plan to make him work for them again, by any means available. All I know is they would prefeer to do so, without hurting him in any way." Sinedd explained. Corso nodded slowly.

"That makes sense. They lost him when he realised what they were doing, And because of the knowledge he has,they would place him in a team that would make him work,and at the same time act as jailors."Corso nodded.

"The security there would make it virtually impossible to free him. If you care about D'Jok,and Sonny, make sure to keep Technoid away from tracking Sonny. They are litterally just waiting for him to make one mistake that will allow them to locate and ensnare him."Sinedd nodded.

"I will let him know. Thanks for your help. You may just have saved Sonny s life yourself.I can guarrantee he will be gratefull for this information."Corso said. Sinedd was not done."I can also use my accesscode, and give you the location of this prison."Corso smiled."Should you ever want to sign off as a fotball player,there will be a place for you among the pirates." he said. Sinedd smiled"I have seen D'Jok with his dad now. He deserves to have as much time with his dad as possible. If I can make up for the past mistakes I made this way, I will."Sinedd stated.

Corso nodded."This is a great start Sinedd. And one we pirates are gratefull for. Now, go get rested, you got a few hours before you and D'Jok need to make breakfast. Sonny and I will meet you there".

* * *

Corso opend the door to the cabin he shared with Sonny. He didn' t turn on any lights, if Sonny was asleep, he was not going to wake him unless it was an emergency. Then Corso laid down on his bed, staring at the information from Sinedd. This confirmed their suspicions. Now he had to find a way to tell Sonny this. Corso noticed Sonny turning in bed.

"Sonny, are you awake?" He asked."Yes Corso."Sonny too stared at the celing, Corso decided to do the most important piece of information first."You may not like this, but it seems the flux trail is headed back, along the old pirates routes, to the outskirts of Shiloh." he sighed as he laid down on his bunk. Now Sonny sat up in his bed. And he was thinking."The asteroids there is big enough to create shelter for a small colony. Some of the rocks could be conciderd a small planet. " Sonny thought and Corso nodded."But why would he want to go there?, it makes no sense Sonny, you think he is behind the abduction?" Corso looked at him.

"You know him as well as I do, Magnus can either be your friend, or your worst enemy, depending on his need. What I dont get is why he took the galactik kids, Mei and Micro Ice. To me, it looks like a very spesific targetting, and it is not the snow kids strongest players." Sonny said.

"Could this be aimed at D'Jok Sonny? A possible revenge for something that he foiled." he asked. Sonny rubbed his chin."I dont know yet Corso, right now, I keep everything open." he nodded."I have been thinking Sonny, since I saw that trail, Magnus may become a real problem and soon." he sighed.

Sonny looked at him. If he was half asleep before, he was wide awake now."What did you find out Corso?" Sonny looked at him from his bed.

Corso sighed."You better see this, it will come across as pretty clear to you as well." he said. Sonny got up and sat down next to Corso on his bed, when he saw what Corso showed him, Corso could see Sonny was thoughtfull."It overlaps the old pirate route to intercept the major Technoid convoys. We have not used those routes since General Bleylock was Duke Maddox right hand."Sonny said. Corso nodded." My thoughts exactly Sonny. But why take the abducted kids to this place? What could be his plan?."Corso asked. Sonny looked at him. Then he looked at the maps again."There are some rather large asteroids in this area.." Sonny was thinking out loud. Corso looked at him with a shock.  
"Sonny, after what happend on Paradisia,you dont think he is crazy enough to make one more attempt to give a planet a flux it doesnt have do you?"he asked.

Sonny had his back turned on Corso."Corso, I am not the least bit surprised if that is what he intends to do. He already showed just how reckless he can be, untill they started to introduce the multi flux in large quantas into Paradisias core, the planet was stabile.I came to think of it afterwards, In theory, he could give a smaller planet, or asteroide a flux of its own, if he has the right knowledge. wich he had enough time to gather" Sonnys voice sounded terrified. Corso had a look of horror on his face.

"Sonny, if what you are saying is correct, it may give our own players a flux too. And even that is in some ways possibly a good thing, but in other ways,it is a great danger" Corso said. Sonny had a worried expression on his face."Corso, I am going to have to ask you, Do you know of the pirates flux, or is this a secret only the pirates leader is allowed to know?"Sonny asked. Corsos expression told Sonny all he needed to know."The pirates has a flux Sonny? This is a highly guarded secret then.I have been a pirate longer than you, but this I have never heard of."Corso looked at Sonny,as he took a laptop from his nightstand and enterd a series of numbers, opening a file. Corso realised he was about to enter a part of the pirates story no second in command had seen before.

"Are you sure about this Sonny?This is breaking more than a few rules of the pirates codex."he reminded him. Sonny smiled softly."Last time I checked, I am still the pirates leader, meaning I have the last say in things. and I say, you get to read up on this. I need your help, and the more information you have, the better advice you can give me" he said as he enterd his personal access code, and a file Corso had not seen before appeared."Read this Corso, thoroughly, and after you are done, let me know, if the same thought of Magnus plan that I have, is also sounding like your idea".

* * *

Mei, Micro Ice and the galactik kids had finally been placed in better suited hotel. It was not like Genesis stadium, but had to do."So, we are roomies now Mei," stated Micro Ice.

Mei was not amused."Micro Ice, if we are going to make this work, we will have to act smart.I know you used to be in love with me once. but this is not the time for silly games" she said.

Micro Ice did not like being confronted with the past,"Mei, that is yesterdays news, as Mark would say." he tried.

Mei sighed."I know, I just never felt I got it ' t you think we have better things to worry about, like trying to get away from here?"

Micro Ice nodded."Any luck trying to reach the outside world yet?" he wanted to know."No yet, I will try again." Mei said.

Mei decided to try to dial Corsos number."Corso, if you and Sonny are out there looking for us, I hope you are able to track us".

* * *

The pirate ship approached the asteroid in stealth mode."We are here Sonny, the trail ends here".Corso looked at Sonny.

"I dont get it, why set up base here?"he wondered.D'Jok and Sinedd stood behind him. Sonnys face was a mask of stone. Corso knew whatever the answer would be, it would be what Sonnys pirates intuition told him. And now he was thinking out loud.

"You didn 't learn anything on Paradisia at all Magnus, you are making a new attempt.I don' t know why you persist on trying to go against the laws of physics here,but nothing good will come from why set an asteroid up with flux, what are you trying for?" He was the one to answer."I am sure that it has nothing to do with football. " he said.

Sonny nodded."We will need to investigate. The two snow kids stay on board..."Sonny said.

But Corso made a decisson of his own."Sonny, you stay on board as well. This time, I sense this may be dangerous for you. If Magnus is looking to challenge you for the title as leader, it is better we make a plan first."Corso said.

Sonny nodded. Corsos words sounded a bit ominous."You know something you are not telling me Corso." he asked.

It wasnt a question, it was a statement. Corso sighed."Sonny, please, this time, listen to the ones that care about you. If you come face to face with Magnus now, he will surrender you to Technoid, to collect the bounty on your head. Sinedd,I ask you to tell what you told me, to Sonny, this time you may save his life, and also help a fellow team mate save his beloved father" Corso asked, and turned to the Snow kids substitute player. Sinedd nodded as he could see all eyes were on him now...

* * *

_I have decided to re arrange a few chapters some. If you have followed this story in its old form, I will ask you, dear reader, to please read it again as I will be making some changes in the chapters, to clean some of them up. Special thanks to all readers that leave helpful comments for the continuation of this fic. And To you Paranoid Girl, you know I love every imput you make. please keep it coming. I must say also, when I checked over my chapters again, there is a chapter that got lost. What is currently chapter 5 will change place, as the chapter that was lost, will now be put into the story. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have left. The missing chapter is very DJok and Sonny centered, as I felt such a chapter was needed._


	2. Chapter 2

At the Aarch Academy, The remaining Snow kids had found it a bit difficult to find motivation to train, and after what had happend last session, entering the holotrainer was not anything that tempted any of them. "Clamp, are you sure we will not experience more problems with this holotrainer if the snow kids have practice sessions in here?"Rocket was still acting as the snow kids coach,as Aarch had retired. Clamp nodded."I checked and recheked, it works fine. What happend last time, was a fluke, and possibly an organized one."Clamp stated. The snow kids was even talking among themselves. Mark was nonchalant about it all, he was still not his usual self, still thinking of the cyborg paradisa player Nina eight now he was getting annoyed with the whole situation. "I don 't know, but somehow this all feels like its is D'Jok's fault, all of it" he grunted. Tia got up and stared angry at Mark."Don't say that Mark.D'Jok had no part in what happend."Tia stated. Mark was clearly grumpy."All I am saying Tia, is look at the facts.D'Jok is the coach of the galactik kids. Mei is his former girl friend, and Micro Ice his best friend. All three are tied to D'Jok" Mark said, somewhat nonchalant. Thran had been busy with a video game and looked up."True Mark, but it makes no sense why anyone would target D'Jok."he said. Ahito was sleeping as Aarch had followed the conversation. He felt he had to step in."I get what you are all thinking. But let's not cast any blame untill we hear from Sonny and the pirates, we really know nothing about the why's or anything else in this matter" he said. Clamp was thinking. "I hope everything is ok,Sonny will report in as soon as they got a lock on where this is headed. He had some thoughts about it before they left. Hopefully he now have more leads to point him in the right direction" he said. Aduim had joined them. she could feel the tense mood in the team." With The pirates experitise,I would expect that they will be able to solve matters fast, Sonny has a habit of being very effective that way, he even helped Rockets case with the league when he was suspended. He never tells anything untill he can prove it" she said. Rocket nodded. "I hope so too Aduim,we are just weeks away from starting the new season, and having a full team here would be an advantage." Tia stood up."I belive in the pirates. I still recall being on board with them. We can trust Sonny to do whatever is in his power to solve this, and bring the guilty parties to justice , we should be getting some training done." she said, trying to raise everyones spirits. "Sorry Tia, I am just not in the ,we are only four players, and we don't have a replacement for the others. And the clones feels unrealistic," said Mark. clearly pouting. Tia could see that the others agreed with him. "Clamp, I have an idea, can you help me please,I got a suggestion" she smiled...

* * *

The pirate ship still stayed in orbit, around the asteroid that seemed to have a lot of activity for just a space rock. Sonny had orderd for observation from a distance as he tried to find a secure path to get close."Sonny, a call on the secure frequenzy," Corso said as he noticed the beeping lights indicating incoming call. Sonny laid down the binoculars, and enterd his spesific security code for the stealth mode call."Clamp?" Sonny looked at his friend. "I hope I am not interrupting anything Sonny," Clamp said. "No, it is just observation for now. We may be getting close to the galactik kids, Mei and Micro Ice,and the cursed Hush Sharky," Sonny informed. Clamp smacked his forehead. "Oh don't remind me Sonny,I swear you could get migraine headaches from less than that,"Clamp said. Sonny chuckled sligthtly at the thought. "That may be Clamp, Hush Sharky is a charracter, but you didn't call to discuss that." he stated. Clamp nodded."You are as perceptive as ever Sonny, nothing escapes you," he admitted."So, what is it?" Sonny looked at his old friend. "Actually Sonny, It is Tia that has a suggestion here."Clamp stepped aside to let Tia speak. "Sonny, I got a suggestion, it may be fun for you as well," she smiled."Lets hear it Tia, then I will let you know what I think, fun or not" said Sonny,trying to keep the conversation focused on the important issues. Tia was not taking any offence. "Since it is the off season still, and the Snow kids are not a full on team,we would like to invite The pirates football team here to practice sessions." she said. Sonny rubbed his chin. That was not a bad idea."How is the Technoid presence at Akilian right now?After the abduction, Genesis may not be all safe to pull this off. Akillian is the best bet for a training boot camp with the pirates. There is bound to be an investigation on Genesis by Technoid. Better get out of there as soon as you have given your statements. I will divert my team to Akillian for a meet up there"the pirate chief stated. Aarch appeared next to Tia. "There indeed has been Sonny, but it is ended now. Technoid found nothing, but they are suspicious of any pirate activity as they put it. But Aduim and I talked it over, to ensure the pirates safety, we have a written document by the league that gives any pirate a form of asylum at Aarch academy. Not just the football team, that would include yourself as coach and leader. Aarch Academy just became a safe haven for the pirates" Aarch stated. Sonny looked at Corso. "What do you think Corso?" He asked. Corso grinned."Sonny, I see no reason why not, and the boys get some training and the snow kids get a challenge. To me, it is sounding like a win win. And it will do them good not to have to watch their backs all the time, just train and actually have fun with a ball for once. and during restitution period, they can always teach the Snow kids a few other things, like getting their hides kicked in the latest computer games." Corso said. Sonny nodded."Corso, contact Stevens, and the team, and tell them to set course for Akillian, I will send them the coordinates on where to make a safe landing. Aarch,My team will make their way in through the ventilation duct that Micro Ice and I once used for our escape.I got one question though, Is Thran also there?" The pirate chief asked. Thran jumped in. he understood exactly what the pirate chief was wondering "I am ready to guide them in if need be Sonny. no one will ever know they are here, except for us in the team" he said. Sonny nodded with a smile."The pirates will arrive within a few hours. If you are all set at the academy then, I will tell them to bring along some of their toys for computer games as well. Restitution is important between all physical excersise, my pirates know that very well, I made sure of that. proper rest and restitution is very important" Sonny announced. The cheers could be heard from the snow kids."Thanks Sonny, that is truly a generous offer from you and your men, I am sure we will learn a lot from eachother, the snow kids has wanted to focus more on team play for some time" Aarch said. Sonny chuckled." Thank Tia Aarch, she had a great idea, and acted on it. As far as team play goes, that is the pirates foundation as a team, I have had some thoughts about it based on what I have seen myself in matches, but I choose not to intrude on another coaches territory uninvited" Sonny said with a small smile. Clamp looked at him. "And you and your team Sonny, how is everything faring? Got any leads as to what you are up against yet?"he asked. Sonny looked at him. "We are preparing for a closer inspection on the ground.D'Jok,Sinedd and myself will stay on board the ship for now, as Corso and the others go in. We are not taking any unncessary risks, until we know the ground better. But we do have a location. It is whom we suspected, and this man can be rather unpredicatable. Corso and I have already tried to figure a strategy to deal with it, but we know very little about who he is today, the most recent information we have, is from our trip to Shiloh, after that, we are blank as to what his motives for the abduction is, and where this leads" Sonny informed. Clamp could see that the very fact Sonny was not going near the ground, and held the two snow kids off as well, signalled danger. Corso most likely had a say in the matter too, Clamp had noticed on his trip, how Corso would often stop Sonny by putting a hand to his arm, neck or shoulder. It was facinating to watch the two of them communicate without words. You would almost think they read eachothers minds. And Corso would rather give up his own life than let any harm come to Sonny. Clamp had sensed the close bond between them. It had made him wonder if those two did not have a secret that only they knew. Corso also seemed to calm Sonny when he tensed up or worried. Clamp found a great amount of relief in knowing just how protective Sonnys men were of him. For many years, he had worried, wondering what had happened to his partner after he ran with the meta flux. Now he knew, he found safety, if you could call it that, with them. and they in turn gave him their loyalty. and protection. Sonny would be fine. Clamp looked at his friend, sensing there was a million thoughts going through his head."Sonny,I can sense you are preoccupied with this. Be safe and dont make any hasty moves ok. I need your help with this when you return. " he tried. Sonny looked at him, before he knew the abductees had to be examined, and he had a feeling that they would find out more during this was right, but not for the reasons he seemed to think. "Clamp, I need you to prepare the laboratory at Aarch Acadmy. I got a feeling that we may have to do labratory work as soon as we return to Akillian. We now know who abducted them. And that is not at all good news. With the knowledge the pirates can secure, I sense we need to take preventative measures in regards to the kids. Contact Warren and have the parents of the kids brought to Aarch Academy in silence. If possible at all, keep Callie Mystic and Arcadia News from broadcasting anything about all this" he informed. Clamp nodded, then he looked at Sonny as if he just realised Sonny had told him a piece of information of great value."Who was it Sonny?" he finally asked. Sonny looked away for a second before he replied. "My old mentor and boss, Magnus Blade. You met him onboard the ship, after Shiloh" he silently said. Clamp creased his eyebrows, Sonny used Shiloh as a code, he was not prepared to reveal that they had really gone to paradisia to aarch. Thran had also noticed this, and remembered that he had been told not to say anything to anyone about the true destination. Clamp knew, Sonny had not just broken a few rules by going to Paradisia. if Technoid found out about their presence there, they actually did not just have the thefts of the pirates to chase them for. This time, Sonny had made a move, no matter how good the intention, that could allow for his lawful arrest. Even if that would have gone down silently, What would follow, after what he suspected would be a full on media show in a court of law, where he and Thran also risked imprisonment for their involvement, What would happen to Sonny was a big unknown. But he feared, Bleylock had put protocols in place should Sonny ever end up in Technoid imprisonment, and that this posed a serious risk to Sonnys safety, and possibly also, his health. He looked at Sonny, gravely serious." this is trouble huh?" he asked. Sonny nodded. "We dont know yet, but you know as well as I do what kind of protocols Technoid used to have back in the day, I have no reason to believe that has been changed, if it has, not for the betterment. And I intend to keep you and Thran out of this. Leave it to me and my men to deal with it. We know how to handle it" Sonny said. Clamp nodded."Yes, your pirate intuition is going of on full alert. I remember all to well what you refeer to Sonny. Do stay safe,I dont have too many friends left, and the few I have, I would like to keep for a while yet" he said. Sonny nodded with a small smile. "We will speak of this later Clamp, for now, we will try to localize the kids and Micro Ice and Me. As soon as possible, we will find a safe way to evacuate them from Magnus strong hold. as soon as they are back onboard, we will get craking on the deeper issues here. The snow kids as a team will play the cup this time as well" he said...

* * *

"Is the holotrainer ready?" Magnus asked as he looked at his men."Yes Magnus, all ready to go." came the reply. Magnus rubbed his beard. "This holotrainer is built by the same model that Harris used to extract flux from the stadiums.I will be able to syphon of the flux and install it in the planets core soon. A bit slower than on Paradisia, and I believe it will work, then I will mix it with a very special flux, one long since vanished from the records. This flux is powerful and it is one that will indeed be of galactik interest to view" Magnus mused. His second in command, a human pirate that had parted ways with Sonnys men, looked at him. "We saw what happened on Paradisia Magnus, Mixed fluxes dont work. It destoyed the planet from within the core. And these asteroids are not big enough to serve as planets. and from my knowledge, we need a core to have a planet breathe as if it had flux. In this instance, I wish we had Sonny here. He knew how this works. His expertice would have served us well right now" he said. Magnus rubbed his beard again. What his second in command pointed out, was correct. But he, like all pirates, had learned from this experience on Paradisia. and now, he was convinced, more than ever, that flux not only could be introduced to a planets core, it could also be done sucessfully, if he was patient. " The Flux was introduced too fast on Paradisia, if the feeding was slower, allowing the planet proper time to adjust, while introducing lower quantas, over longer time, it is not only possible to give a planet a flux of it its own, it is also safe to do. I wish I had Sonnys knowledge on the subject then, but that could have spelt disaster. Sonny is very careful in all matters related to flux. I am aware of his extensive knowledge. Sonny Blackbones may be a brilliant scientist, but when he said it could not be done, he was wrong, and I intend to prove that beynd a shadow of doubt" he concluded. His second in command was more sceptic. Even the pirates knew, when it came to flux research, even Technoid, their aarchenemy, considered Sonny a leading expert in the field. And if Sonny expressed concern, despite being on opsing sides, Duke Maddox himself would listen to his former was known among the pirates, Duke Maddox had told Sonny that he considered him the best they ever had among his scientists. They had supplied him with the education and ability to grow and develop. Then, a powerhungry General Bleylock had gotten in the ay, the only reason he had not been told to stay away, was that the general had found Sonny when he was unknown to Technoid, and reqruited him to the company. Other than that, the pirtates themselves knew very little about Sonnys life before he joined them. Sonny was deeply protective of his past, only his most trusted men would ever know anything about it. And he suspected, those scientists that still researched flux now, despite the fact that it was very toned down, even by Technoid, still had ways to consult with Sonny on flux related matters. Sonny would offer advice and guidance from the safety of his ship, where Technoid could not find him. If Sonny had said that it was impossible to safely introduce flux to a planet that did not have its own natural flux, then, the pirate chiefs statement should be listened to, and above all, followed. And what Magnus suggested doing, went against all they knew about flux as of far. Secretly, he had started to sweat some. "Are you sure Sonny Blackbones wasn 't right? He seems to know alot about how this works. Despite his status, Technoid still consults him on flux related matters. It is done in silence, but Duke Maddox is aware of it. The last report I read from the hacked Technoid base, Duke Maddox would have treated Sonny as a valued member of the staff if they were ever able to lay hands on him. I am starting to question wheter he is in any danger at all from them. Maybe there is a chance Sonny would be treated well if imprisoned. It certainly looks like they got some flux related work they would want his verdict on" he tried. Magnus nodded slowly. Despite working for him as an exiled pirate, it was clear to him, the pirates, even though disagreeing with Sonny on some matters, they still believed in him and his expertise when it came to flux. Many of them had seen, up close and personal, just how damaging flux could be as a weapon of war. And Sonny, who had created a syntetic flux, almost used for war, had risked his life several times, to prevent such a weapon from being used. He needed to prove to his men, that despite his knowledge, this time, Sonny Blackbones was in the wrong. "Yes,he does. And since I took back The black Manta, I am not sure Sonny would be all that willing to cooperate with me on this. Wich is a shame. I could use a man with his expertise in my new organization. But unless Sonny agrees to cooperate, I cant trust him, certainly he will not be happy when phase two starts", Magnus turned his back on his men. "If the asteroid is stabile at the core, will you inject the breath of akillian? How would that affect Akillian as a planet, and is it even possible to have two planets with the same flux?" his second in command asked. Magnus looked at him. "No, I will not use their flux. The breath of Akillian is still not a fully developed flux. There are other types of fluxes in this galaxy. Some are indeed very strong, while others, for reasons unknown, vanished. I know of one such a flux. The last thing I did anything as the pirates leader, before I went into exile, was to delete a certain file from the pirates databases. No second in command has ever had the information about this flux. And since I was defeated by Sonny, and he had the knowledge he had about the matter, I decided it better that Sonny not knowing about it. If he did, he would follow protocol, and ban it from being used, as it is highly detectable, a disadvantage when you try to escape Technoid. But the truth is, the destruction of Ascaron, the planet that made up the area we today call the Shiloh Archipelago, was a planet that had a destructive flux. After the Shiloh Archipelago formed, the flux, in its volatile state, disappeared. But, because the pirates, who survived and were now homeless and without belonging anywhere, had a core of good in them, this energy of positivity, energetically, managed to mix with the volatile and destructive, forming a new energy, a new flux. Most see it as a myth, maybe that is even what Sonny believes, but, it is not a myth. From disaster, a new flux was born, one with powers yet unknown. It has not been seen in decades, so it is believed to be extinct. This is the most powerful energy in the galaxy, until something stronger can be created. It is named, the seed of Shiloh" Magnus said. "I will mix it with this." Magnus held up a small vail, containing a purple colored liquid."This flux is it has its homebase here, at Shiloh." Magnus was lost in a memory. Shiloh had not always been barron space rocks the pirates hid amongst. Once it held an asteroid that was big enough to have a settlement.A tiny planet, but with a peaceful settlement. It was still where a lot of disgruntled former technoid employees set up their own place, far away from the trouble that followed the mighty company settled down. They were peacefull, but sceptical. The contact with Technoid had made them vary, but for the most part, they made no problem with anyone, minding their own business. But then came the day, when Technoid found their hideout and blew it up. A lot of the peacefull people was killed. And a planet in the Shiloh Archipellago that had been known as a peaceful place was gone. There was not much left. But the planet had a flux.A flux Magnus now held the last remains of, he hoped to bring it back, bring back the lost flux,now belonging to the group that called themselves pirates. "What is that flux Magnus?" His second in command asked. Magnus ginned."The last remains of what I will bring of the most powerfull fluxes there ever seed of Shiloh".

* * *

Corso and the pirates had reached the strong hold of Magnus group. They found a way to hide under the use of one of the pirates gadget, that allowed them to remain invisible. As soon as they were close enough, Coros put them into teams to do the mission. As soon as the teams of pirates were deployed, Bennett and Artie was the only ones left with Corso. He turned to them, looking very serious."This is a reconnosance mission only,we need to find out where the kids are being held before we can go in all team," Corso informed them. Bennett nodded this. But Artie was puzzled. "Tell me again, why didnt Sonny come with us?"he asked. Corso growled as he looked at him. "We dont know what Magnus plan here is, it could pose a great danger for Sonny,You dont know the background,but I was there when it happened.I know what kind of danger this man poses to Sonny. And I would rather he stay safe than be put at risk down here. Or do I have to remind you how close we came to loose him on Paradisia?" he reminded Artie with a stern look. Artie too remembered Sonny being close to death from being poisoned. "You really think they would try to poison him again?The only way that was even sucessful the first time, is if Sonny was caught of guard. And for that to happen, he must have been overly focused on something else" Artie concluded. Corso was agreeing with Artie on this. He knew most of what had happened, the part Sonny could recall. Now he looked at Artie."I dont know Artie, but I am not going to take any chances.I feel a lot better knowing Sonny is safe on board with D'Jok and Sinedd, than in this place. If something was to happen, Magnus cant reach him here"he said. Corso had triangulated the signal that they had on the abducted kids, so they could track their location. The pirates had made their way slowly to what appeared a center of the community. Corso looked at it from a distance through his night goggles."The buildings are old, but they are still in good shape. Maybe Magnus came back here because this is a familliar turf for him." he deducted. Bennett nodded that, the same thought had struck him. A former pirate would take comfort in returning to the familiar. As Corso and Bennett continued to observe, Artie was on the computer. "I managed to get all the plans for the buildings that we see here, they are all from the same era, it seems an explosion of sort has damaged the ourter parameters, that or Magnus has not had time yet to fortify properly. But what is this? Take a look. All is old but one in the middle. That one is new, the one in the center. It even looks like it is newly erected" he said. Corso nodded as he looked at the computer screen."It even seems it has been built recently. That is most likely where the kids are held. The outside also seems very modern compared to the rest" he thought out loud. Bennett too had looked at security around the building."Magnus defences are better than ours Corso. We may need to getting through the firewalls again, That is difficult to do with his systemes, remember the trouble we had on Paradisia."he said. Corso nodded. he had the same thought "I will call Sonny. We need some help with this".

* * *

On Akillian, the snow kids welcomed the pirates to their facility. It was strange to see them out of their team uniforms. In their normal clothes, the pirates was quite colourfully dressed, but still careful. Stevens smiled as he still had put garments in front of his face to mask himself from being recognized, then he turned to Aarch and Rocket. " Thanks for the invite. The pirates appreciate this chance to practice with the champions. But since we are a non flux team,we would like to suggest that we play these trainings without the use of flux. There is a lot of things that we pirates do differently, that we dont mind sharing. And playing without the use of flux could be a training session in itself for you guys. It could make the training more interesting" he suggested. Aarch nodded agreeingly. "I like how you think Stevens. Keep playing and passing the ball could be good excersies without the flux." Hawkins chuckled."Sounds like one of Sonny' s warm ups, hard and sweaty, And this time I cant pretend to be sick either" he laughed. Aarch looked at him, a bit surprised at this news. "Are you telling me that Sonny Blackbones is your teams coach? And also the leader of The Pirates. It seems he has a full schedule" he stated. Stevens nodded."Wich again explains why there is never anyone in the coach 's pod during the Pirates Matches."Stevens giggled some."Sonny is a fabulous leader, we are all feeling very happy he is in charge. He is the one on it goes beyond the call of duty just delegating who takes on what with Technoid related matters. Sonny and Corso are also two of the toughest combat instructors we have. Sonny is just the coach that is never seen. But trust me, he is watching the matches and giving his orders for the team when on the pitch without the coaches pod. It would not be safe, given Technoid always swarms the place in hopes to get him" Stevens informed. Hawkins joined him."Yeah, I am glad I am not Technoid, Sonny is always several steps ahead of him. But more so, during football practices at Shiloh,Sonny even joins us on the pitch. He is one of our best players, despite him being older than most of us. We would have liked him to be on the pitch with us in competition,but the risk to Sonnys safety is too great. Our team has immunity, but we are not all convinced that if he did play with us, they would let him walk. Technoid would break the rules to get to him and imprison him. If they knew where to find him, you can be sure they would try to seize him" he said. Aarch understood."It is a shame though, even at his age, Sonny is more fit than most I know,I believe he has the stamina to go through a full match, and still be able to make his escape after." he said. Stevens nodded this. "He could, but it wont happen unless conditions allow for him to do it safely, and as of now, that wont be. Sonny is too valuable to us to be put at risk like that. And Corso would not let him do it either. He is a bit... overprotective of our leader you could say" he smiled. Rocket had reached them, and shook Stevens hand."For now, let us focus on what we can learn from each other." he suggested. Stevens nodded, and gave a nodd to his fellow team mates, whom all had a small bag on their shoulders "Pirates, get into uniform, I will ask our coach what we should practice and not. Sonnys drills might be good for the reigning champions too" he thought. Aarch and Clamp was baffled when they saw Stevens make the call to their coach...

* * *

Aboard the ship, Sonny 's transmitter started beeping. Sonny answered it, D'Jok noticed it."Stevens?" He looked at his dad. Sonny smiled and gave his son a nodd as he answered. "Coach, what strategies should we apply?We have reached the Aarch academy and are eager to start, May I suggest a non flux practice to them?" he asked. Sonny chuckled at that. "That is a good idea for warm ups Stevens. Here is what I want you to do" he said as he laid down the list of excersises."You are staying until we return with the kids. Basics for now, and when ready,progress to team play and pass work. The usual drill, if they are up for it, you put in the stage three training manual" he said. "Got it Coach! I kind of hope we wont reach stage , that may be too brutal for them" Stevens commented. All of a sudden,Sonny sensed Stevens had something else to share. He had a feeling the pirate player had revealed more than he should have to The snow kids and now wanted to come clean. "Ok Stevens, who said too much this time and about what topic?" he laughed. Stevens could tell it wasn't the most serious thing for his boss,as Sonny was trying to hide a smile."Sorry coach, but we accidentally came to disclose who the pirates coach is,and that he is playing football. Is this a problem I need to handle?" Sonny could not hold it in,He laughed. "Stevens,Don't worry about that. It is all info that should have been out a long time ago. As for the fact that the coach is also being a player, as long as it stays with the ones in the room, and no outside source, you know what to do, low memory only for outside sources. The Snow Kids can keep secrets." he smiled. "Ok Sonny, is everything going according to plan on your end?" Stevens asked. Sonny answered calmly."We are on recconosanse now, we should get the things here wrapped up fast. As soon as we return,we will have to get crackin on a theory I got about the matter. If I am right, we got work to do, lots of it" he informed him. "Ok Sonny,I will let you get back to work. Stevens out." he said . As Sonny ended the call, he turned to D'Jok and Sinedd. "Dad how did that come about?, the pirates are at Aarch academy?I am starting to feel envious of our team mates" DJok said, he could not hide the shock in his face. Sonny smiled as he looked at his son. "Yes D'Jok. They will keep the snow kids busy, so they won't worry too much about what we are doing. Dont worry, you will have the chance to practice with them when we return. The pirates will have to stay at aarch a cademy for a little while. Aarch and Aduim has gotten the legal issues sorted out. aarch academy is a place we have immunity. Technoid wont approach us there" he stated.D'Jok nodded. "But isn't there an ongoing technoid investigation into the multi flux explosion that took place?Technoid could come at any moment and find them there, not to mention if they suspect that you are there. I am not sure I can trust they will honor any such agreement" He said. Sinedd agreed."That would be a news story, The pirates arrested on Aarch Academy, not to mention, what that would do to the reputation of the Snow kids. I learned from General Bleylock just how sneaky they could be about such matters" Sinedd confessed. Sonny knew he had to fill the snow kids in front of him in on what was going on. "It has been an investigation, and it has been ended D'Jok and Sinedd..I would not send the team if they weren't safe, as for the staff on board this ship, there is no need to worry. I have been to the academy a few times before. I know my way around the ducts. And with an agreement like we have in place now, the league would make some noise if one of the team coaches is arrested in an immunity zone. There is no need for worry, they wont approach the academy" he replied. Sinedd nodded."Sonny, do you remember Corso saying I knew something about the real plan to be effected if you were captured? I came to remember something Bleylock said, something I forgot until now. I already gave Corso the plans for the facilitys location, any other information related to it that appears, I feel I should pass on the information so you are prepared"he said. Both father and son looked at him."Sinedd, if you know something about what will happen to my father if he is captured, could you please tell us?" he asked silently. Sinedd nodded that."That is what I intend to do D'Jok." he said. Sonny nodded silently. This information would allow him to put countermeasures in place, to secure the pirates,and possibly himself. He needed to hear what the kid new."Let's go to my cabin, we will be able to speak of this there,undisturbed" he suggested as he led both boys to said cabin...

* * *

On the asteroid,the pirates had gotten close enough to reveal heat signatures inside the buildings. Bennett was puzzled."If they are holding the kids here, the security is low to non excistent, there are hardly any guards" he said. Corso nodded."I agree it may look safe to do the extraction,Magnus does not seem to have it all together yet. This is to our advantage in the rescue mission. but I know better than to trust would chew me out if I dont do proper work. We cant do this alone. We can use our cloacking devices that allows for a jump through a small area. But We will need Sonny, D'Jok and Sinedd to help pirate can only safely carry one kid. We all have to help one person escape. There will be one extra person pr pirate. We can't make a too long jump either, it will drain the battery, we have to plan the jumps ahead. I need to put this information forth to Sonny, see what he thinks" he concluded. Artie nodded. "Have D'Jok and Sinedd got any training with the use of our tools on this? We cant put them on this if they have no clue how to operate it" He said. Corso shook his head."No,Sonny wanted a full report on how things looked before he made the decission on how go about this. They will be trained in the use of the things they need. That, or they stay on board."Corso replied as he zoomed in with his cybernetic eye on the builiding. Artie nodded."Time to get back to the ship then?" he asked. Corso nodded."Artie,call back the ground teams. We need to head back to make a plan"...

* * *

Mei and Micro Ice felt an eerie feeling of Deja vu as they stood in the training room. Their trainer was a robot, and he clearly was not programmed to understand humans."Special kick session Micro Ice, hurry." the metallic voice said."Alright,alright, I'm going," Micro Ice was in a bad mood, but he had no choice. Mei but to prepare as well. She knew she could not try to contact Corso here,she would be found out. She decided to wait until they were back in their hotel room like accomodations. The kids was also getting cranky. "All we do is practice practice and practise again, when are we going to play real football?"Asked one of the kids."I am hungry, we haven't eaten in forever," said the young lightnings girl . Sunja appeared down too."I wanted to play galactik football, because my brother is a galactik football star,I didn't want to come to this place, where I know no one, and my brother Sinedd isn't here", she muttered. Micro Ice looked at them. "Someone will come for us, I am sure of it. So don't worry. " he tried".But who Micro Ice, who will come, no one knows were we are?" said one of the kids."I don't know, but I think the pirates." Micro Ice said as sounds indicated the speaker was turned on.A voice was heard on the speaker. "I would really hope you are right Micro Ice, I would welcome the pirates, with open arms,when I am ready to greet them. If they would choose to follow me, I can make things even better for them than they are now. They will happily elect me their new leader" the voice said. Mei got annoyed. "I don't know who you are Sir, but the pirates already has a leader,you may have heard of him,Sonny Blackbones." she said. The laughter made cold chills run down her spine. "I have indeed heard of Sonny Blackbones.I am the one that made him a pirate in the first place.I took him in,when he was on the run from Technoid and had no one. He grew to become Sonny Blackbones the most wanted pirate in this galaxy, he repaid that help by making my men reject me and put him in my place in stead. You could say I got a bone to pick with the pirate leader. As in many ways, Sonny Blackbones was created by me. Through training and skills as a lawless man he became whom you know him as today" the voice said.  
Micro Ice stepped back. "Then who are you? why cant you put a face to the voice?" he asked. An image appeared on a screen. "Who I am my boy? I have met you and Mei before, on , you knew me as Lord Phoenix, Now, I show who I really am, I am Magnus Blade,the most ruthless pirate in the galaxy. And I am the one that will bring back the most powerfull flux the galaxy has ever seen. Sonny Blackbones is not going to get in my way of obtaining that"...

* * *

Corso had returned with the teams to The Black Manta, now he was sitting down with Sonny, making a plan of action."Should we try to reposess The Black Manta as well Sonny? The ship seems rather unguarded" he reported. Sonny nodded. according to the information they now had, it would be a rather easy thing to do. "If possible Corso, it may be the best way to get the kids back to Akillian faster. She is also a ship we know can take it, this one is relatively untested. I will have my boys at the factory run some more tests on her, to see what she is good for, but I wont pressure her too much as of now, no point in destroying a usable ship that we dont fully know, just yet" he said as he looked at the plans. Corso had more concerns."There appears to be no threat on the ground Sonny,but I know Magnus, as do you. I have to ask you.. stay on board Sonny, please.." Corso stopped, making Sonny look at him."Corso, finish what you started saying. You are not sounding confident in what you think you observed, but tell me anyway, Your concern is valid, I just want you to trust me enough to tell me what that is " Sonny said, raising a suspicious eyebrow. Corso sighed."I am not sure you, and the two snow kids should participate. It is too many things we could not positively conclude on the gound. And I doubt he is over the past. Any confrontation could put you in serious jeopardy.I dont think you should risk it. We have no idea what he is up to" he said. Sonny finally looked at him. "It will be fine Corso. We will go through this before we approach the ground. D'Jok and Sinedd will also help out. Make sure they are trained in how to use the cloak and the jet. So don't worry Corso. It worked out before, both with Tia and Thran on board. This time wont be any different" Sonny assured him. Corso had to agree."I would say it even did with Micro Ice as well. But I just can't shake the feeling that this is a trap. That it is not really about D'Jok, but about settling the score with you Sonny. After what happened in the past, we both know who he used to be. He might be the one that kills you" he said silently. Corso knew from experience, unless Sonny felt the same way, he would not be able to stop him from going. And now, Sonny stood up. seemingly thinking matters through."We will do an extra training session with D'Jok and Sinedd before we move in. We will be doing two reposesses The Black Manta,and group B, Storm,is doing the evacuation of the kids. We will need to be fast. Magnus can't suspect anything, If he does, he will intercept and cut the group off from reaching the safety of the ship.I understand your concern, but e all have to paeticipate, or it puts the entire plan at risk" Sonny explained. Corso nodded."So, how are we to do this?" he asked, sounding resigned. Sonny grinned as he put a hand on Corsos neck. "We will play on the element of surprise. We approach this in a way that Magnus will not foresee. He will expect normal pirate tactics, so we will go the other way. I got a good feeling Corso, try to relax ok!"he said with a small smile."How?Magnus will be prepared for normal, or old tactics. And you are not throwing yourself in his mouth, like you did with Bleylock" Corso was no longer getting what Sonny planned on. "We will use a hologram of me, I will be the diversion while you and the others go in and find the kids and bring them out, I will make him come out and talk about why he did all this,see if I can make him stumble and give us a clue to his real plan. I will stall him for as long as I can. From a safe distance off course." Sonny said as he saw Corso wanted to protest this."Meanwhile Sinedd will be the real key to get the kids to safety. We do it in an unexpected fashion he is not expecting, I have a feeling of what Magnus is really up to. I am still weighing the pros and cons of the outcome of this. But I need more information to fill in the blanks. If I am right, we got a lot of work to do when we return to Akillian and aarch academy" Sonny admitted. Corso looked sceptical at this explanation. Sonny was holding back. Sonny sensed Corsos reservations, and decided to elaborate some, to calm his friends nerves. "I need to talk with him Corso,to avoid all pirates be exposed,no matter what level of stealth mode we fly in. Magnus is working on something that can act as a permanent locator beacon on all of us. and I will do whatever it takes to prevent that from becoming a reality"...

* * *

The kids was looking at the hologram of the team paradisia players, while breathing here close to falling over. It had been a major overload for them, they were barely standing on their feets. They could not take this kind of play, not for years maybe. This alone posed an issue to their health, and Mei was angry."Hey, they are just kids, you push them too hard. If You keep this up,they won't last to develop the breath properly, you are hurting them." she yelled."Are you ready to take my job as a coach Mei?"The robot coach mocked. Mei stood up. She could not allow for this to continue."If need be, yes. Micro Ice and I will coach the kids, because this is dangerous to them. You seem to know nothing about how humans train, or how human bodies develop." she yelled. Then the holotrainer came down, and outside stood Magnus Blade. Micro Ice backed up some steps when he saw him, even Mei felt intimidated by the big pirate. If she had to compare, Mei had to admit, Sonny Blackbones was her prefered choice. "So, you think you can do better than a robot coach programmed to achieve top results?"He asked. Mei straightend up. "Yes, I can, with Micro Ices help" she stated."Hey, don't drag me into this Mei, I got nothing to do with it. It's your idea, not mine,"he said. Magnus Blade looked at them."Very Well, you go into the trainers barracks, to prepare a training program for the kids, they will be held in a secret location from you. As of now, you only have access to them,when during the trainings." The former pirate stated. Micro Ice gasped. "No wait,the kids need us." he said, But Magnus turned his back. and they heard the frightened kids call their names, fearing what would happen now, as they were led out of the holo trainer and into a corridor, where a hatch openend. "It's a done deal Micro Ice, your fellow coach assured you both a lot more work," said Magnus."You should have had Aarch or Clamp here, they are the real trainers, they tought us everything we know,"Micro Ice said defiantly. Magnus looked at him. "Always strike your oponent the least expected way, it does become used up,so I will make new your time wisely Micro Ice, there is no escaping here, untill I have accomplished my goals."he said."Wich is?" Mei crossed her arms over her chest. Magnus looked at her."The assured return of the most powerfull flux in the universe.I am looking forwards to seeing how Sonny will handle that effect"...

* * *

As soon as they were placed in the new living quarters, Mei and Micro Ice met."We are in a real jam here Micro Ice, I never intended for us to be separated from the kids," said Mei."Well, that has happend, so how can we go about fixing it?"Micro Ice asked. Mei pointed to her holowatch. "I finally got a strong signal.I am going to try to contact Corso. He is Sonnys right hand man. Sonny and Corso are never far away from eachother. If Corso is around here, you can bet Sonny is too" she said."If they are close, we may be able to get their help." she concluded. Micro Ice nodded."I seem to remember Corso now, Military cap, cybernetic eye,seems a little crancky, grey coat with fur on the hood, sounds like him huh" he asked and looked at Mei whom hid a smile."It seems the memory erasure never really worked on me,it seems the bracelet Sonny wears keeps triggering the memory. I wonder if they are aware of that glitch" he said. Mei nodded."Thats Corso for ya, Micro Ice, and I think you may have been the one that led Sonny to find out about D'Jok in the first place too. That bracelet, seeing DJok with one, it must have felt like being kicked in the gut for Sonny" she mused. Micro Ice was silent. "Wow Mei, you really think so?I do recall saying something about it, but then he said he had no kids, that was when we went to shiloh. But it was like he sensed something, like he needed to look into it. I really dont know, even if he was injured, it still felt scary to stand in front of him" Micro Ice recalled. She nodded."This is probobly the most we have ever spoken Micro Ice.I still feel guilty for how I tried to destroy things for you and D' Jok back then. But look at what it brought. For D' Jok especially. I think we could say you found his father for him. There is a bond with the pirates, one no other team has, I am sure of it. For DJok, he found his father, and Sonny, a purpose, and his son. That must have felt rather special for them both" She thought."It could not be just due to me going with them Mei. Remember what it was that led to all this, remember, Clamp and Sonny are old friends,and worked together on the meta flux, that made us rise to fame. " Micro Ice reminded her. Mei nodded."To be honest Micro Ice, I am gratefull they seem to always have an eye on our team." Micro Ice nodded."I recall Sonny as a real cool guy." he said. Mei laughed."The coolest of them all, and he is D'Joks dad." They laughed some."Should we make a try now? if you got a strong signal, this may be our best chance to get help" He asked. Mei nodded, she found Corsos number."I hope you are out there Sonny, we really need your help this time".

* * *

Corso had been busy with some drafts for possible escape routes back, where they would be undetected by Magnus radar system when his transmitter started beeping. Sonny sent him a look when he heard the sound, he had been studying the layout on the ground, to plan who would go where and the most efficient route back to The Black Manta. He knew Magnus was a lone wolf, and that his own crew could deal with a hijack of the felt safer to use a ship he knew well to transport the kids home. Now he looked over at a puzzled Corso. No caller id showed up, making Corso hessitate to answer.."Answer it Corso,I got a feeling this call is important, and that we should listen, no matter who is on the other side" said nodded and did as Sonny asked. Then Corsos face turned to one of shock when Meis hologram appeared."MEI? but how..." D'Jok and Sinedd was shocked and lost for words. "Corso, we need you to get our coordinates from where we are. We need help. Is there any chance you can get us out of here?" Mei asked, sounding relieved that they had answered. Sonny appeared next to Corso, so Mei and Micro Ice could see him. "We already got the coordinates Mei,and we are on our way, is everyone ok?"he calmly asked her. Micro Ice appeared next to her hologram. "Sonny, we are fine, all of us, just have not had much to eat since we got here. The kids has been forced to train too hard for their bodies and may be weakened. But,on our location it is just Mei and me. A man named Mangnus, who reminded me of Lord Phoenix, has placed the kids in a secret location, we have no idea where, thanks to Mei mouthing off with him" he said. Sonny frowned as he heard that."So he split you in two groups Micro Ice?That was odd, even for him. I am not sure why he did that, but it is no good news for the kids.I wonder what purpose that serves in his plan. He used to be quite different. seems he has changed over th years, into worse, not better. Are you under heavy guarding?" The pirate chief mused."Yes,Mei and I could possibly get out, but the kids, we really need to get them out of here too. I am worried for their health, they are not allowed much restitution and trained extremely hard for kids their age last time, wich is just hours ago"Micro Ice said. Sonny nodded in agreement. They would need to act fast. The kids health was at risk, and whatever he was up to had to be stopped."We got it taken care of Micro Ice. Be ready for a quick get away. Corso, we will do evacuation plan C. Scan the entire area, and all the surrounding buildings. The more guards, the more sure we are to be in the right area. Everyone will use night googles,and we have to be fast. You all know your go to zone. get ready, we will act now" Sonny ordered as Corso held the connection open with Mei."Right Sonny, I will inform the team," Corso said. Mei had one more thing to say. "Sonny, The man whom is behind all this is Lord Phoenix, he is the one that took us, but he calls himself Magnus Blade now. He looks very different from the man we met in Paradisia" she said. Sonny nodded, serious this time."We know Mei,I know all too well who Magnus Blade is and what he is capable of." he told her. Mei looked at him. "He says he wants to resurrect a flux that we have never seen. He claims it is the strongest flux in the galaxy." she said, sounding worried Sonny nodded."I know, and for the moment, I have no plan to counteract has to make another move first. Whatever this flux is, I am not familiar with it, I know the ones from the teams in the cup, but a ressurected flux from the past could have vanished from all records. I will put my men on it, find out wich flux he is refeering to" Sonny assured her. Micro Ice looked at them."I can't shake the feeling,this one is dangerous, more dangerous than anyone else you have ever been up against,"said the young raven haried boy. Sonny's eyes darkened as he heard that. "You are correct Micro Ice. He is very dangerous. Don 't provoke him. Leave it up to me to deal with him. This man was a real menace to Technoid before. Now he may be a threat to our very galaxy, and the galactik peace we all wish to have"...

* * *

On Aarch academy, the pirates was showing the snow kids a lot of their tactics on the field. Rocket studied all he could come by, this would make great additions to his training. Clamp also paid close attention. He chuckeld. "No doubt this is Sonnys training work outs.I recall us in the lab, when developing the meta flux, he did much of the same things there. A true leader, very attentive to all details, wich is hy everything he did turned out so well. Brutal physical training, a pirate has to be in good shape it seems" he said. Rocket smiled."I would have loved a training session with Sonny Blackbones myself, as he really seems to know what he is doing. The pirates are an amazing team, real heroes, I wonder if he taught them that as well" he said, Aarch agreed."Among all the coaches, the pirates has always been the most mysterious one. little is known about the team at all. Back in my days, we didn't know anything about the team. That came later, after Sonny Blackbones had become a familiar name."he recalled. "Same as with me, my name wasn't Clamp back then. It was Yarrit Labnor, and Sonny was I'Son Danvers. Or as Certain operatives would put it, the most stubborn and dedicated scientist there was on Technoids payroll." Clamp laughed. "With all that has happened, I am sure happy the two of you found each other again. Without your combined knowledge, who knows where we would have been now. Sonny lending us a hand is deeply appreciated" he said."It was our combined knowledge that allowed us to identify Rockets resonance from the Multi flux,and it was Sonny who first understood how dangerous the meta flux was for them.I just became the messenger when he himself could not deliver it to you" Clamp said. Aarch nodded. "And D'Jok found an inner calm when learning Sonny is his father. Going with his father now is a good thing for D'Jok. He may learn things about himself this way, and his family, especially his birth mother" Aarch concluded. Clamp nodded."I can actually see a lot of a younger Sonny in D'Jok. But if this has calmed D'Jok, and helped him develop as a team player, it has also given Sonny a purpose and reason to continue to fight, but in a different way than before" Clamp said. Aarch nodded and turned to the screen that Rocket was watching."Rocket, I think Tia can pass by them without the use of flux, but she needs to see it herself. The pirates may be doing it on purpose, whatever the reson, we got things to learn from this."Rocket said. " Uncle Aarch, the players we got here is really learning a lot from this,I see how it can be used in match. It is really too bad the pirates always remain underdogs, they are something else. they are amazing players, I would really have wanted to face them in a final " he said. Aarch chuckled."You will have plenty of time to get to know them all Rocket. Sonny has ordered them to stay here until they return with the kids. Take the time to learn from them, not just football, but other things as well, as pirates are into many things, see what can be picked up." Aarch smiled. Aarch was not joking about that. The pirates helped upgrade a lot of the training equipment too. they had some other helpful programs for the snow kids to use as well. Stevens had a full overview of all that was going on. And before long, Clamp was approached by The pirates Captain. "Clamp, Sonny told me to give you this message, a few days in"he said and put a small hologram message up.A full size hologram of Sonny appeared." Clamp,Aarch, snow Kids. The pirates suggested an upgrade on your training equipment to stay as fit as they are, the next cup will be demanding that much of you. Normally,the pirates don't use things like this, but they will adjust some of your training gear to a new level of fitness. My men will make sure all is tested and up to our standards. Don 't worry about your missing team mates or the others. The two Snow kids will soon be back, along with the others, focus on what Stevens tells you. Your team mates will also get training, I will see to that personally." he smiled. Clamp shook his head, and looked at the snow kids with a grin. "That was no empty threat snow kids.D'Jok and Sinedd will be made to train hard as well, that's for sure." Stevens nodded it with a chuckle. "If Corso is the snappy instructor amon us,,I promise you, Sonny is the no fooling around type. Our own rookies almost breathes a sigh of relief when it is Corso coming to exeute the training happens frequently. as Sonny is a busy man. but When it is Sonny showing up in his tracksuit, we all know that it will be a really hard work out. And we will be aching all over by the time it is over" he chuckled. Now Mark and the others were out of the holo trainer. Mark was still hurting from his loss but,actually found a good thing with all the training. "I don't get time to think of Nina now,so for me this is good,.I can funnel my sadness and frustration into a hard work out."he said with a small but grateful smile. Tia looked at Rocket with a wink. "I think you should also get a workout too Coach, it will be good for you."Aarch was a bit worried. "How are you feeling Rocket, after all the resonance from the multi flux?I dont think you should overdo this" he said. Rocket looked at his uncle."I feel better, but it saddens me to know I may never fully recover from it."he admitted. Clamp nodded."I will talk to Sonny about it.I am sure Sonny may have an idea of how this can be reversed. But it may take some time to get there. With the pirates now having immunity here, I think it will allow for Sonny to stay longer, and safely work on something to counter it, possibly restore what was lost. If anyone can do it, it is Sonny"Clamp said. Rocket looked at him."Wouldn't it be dangerous for Sonny to come here?If Technoid was to find out, do we have any possible escape routes from the academy for him?I would hate for D'Jok to see his father led away in chains, that is, if they dont have other plans for him" he said. Aarch laughed. He remembered Bennetts request for a map of the academy just months earlier. The Pirates surely knew all possible access and exit points there was by now. Sonny faced no danger by coming here. "Rocket,Sonny already has a complete map of the Aarch Academy. I would not worry too much about that. " Aarch said. Stevens nodded. "Don't worry about the Technoid. If they were ever able to ever catch him, they deserve it. Sonny knows all of their systems by heart. I seriously doubt they will be able to keep up with him." he said. Clamp laughed."I figured that much. When he came to my lab here the first time and they tried to arrest him, there was no sign of surprise on his side, but a little cross though. I get why, as it looked like I had turned on him. Wich I would never." Clamp stated. Stevens nodded. he had sat out this training session on purpose as Sonny had asked him to do, to observe. He looked at the snowkids."Since the practice is over, anyone up for the latest computer games?"We pirates have the latest ones" he smirked, and held up a few in his hand...

* * *

Sonny was done informing D'Jok and Sinedd about the plan and how the evacuation would work. The two snow kids had been drilled by Corso on the gear they would be using, and how to operate it with maximum efficiency. Sonny looked at the two snow kids dressed up in their gear."You will be with Corso and myself. Artie and Bennett, you lead team Alpha onboard the Black Manta, and try to overpower anyone on board. We will take the kids to The Black Manta, and from there, once the kids are safe, we take her back to the lair to do a sweep for bugs, and a restock of supplies. Group b, Storm will evacuate the galactik kids from their barracks. As soon as The Black Manta is under our control, this ship will head back to base for a check up. And Let me be very clear everyone. The kids are already scared enough as it is from all that has happened, dont 't scare them anymore than need be, be silent and efficient in bringing them back to the ship. and have the doctors ready to do their check up on them. D'Jok,Sinedd, you will follow Corsos lead, to get Micro Ice and Mei aboard the ship. Once the kids are safe, Corso will join me on the ground, we got a little thing we need to deal with concerning Magnus, I will stall him as long as possible" he said. "What will you be doing Sonny? I like to have an overview here" Corso said. Sonny smiled as he pulled out a small unit. when he turned it on, they all now looked at a full size hologram of him." I will be confronting Magnus Corso, but from a safe distance. This hologram projector is the lates model, state of the art. "Sonny said. Corso grimaced at that. he didn't like it at all."I don't like this Sonny, you are putting yourself at risk. What if something happens, and you get cut off from the group? We can't loose you. And Magnus also has his own tricks. Please drop this idea. "he said. Sonny looked at him. "Corso,you know this is necessary. I'll be will meeting you at the decided location." he said calmly. Corso still was not convinced."I don't have a good feeling about it Sonny. drop this confrontation please"he muttered, knowing full well things was already decided. Sonny had made up his mind, and this was how it would be played. Sonny turned to his men and the two snow kids, now ready to put the plan into action. Sonny put on his own gear, and then, the projector."Ok, Group Alpha, Storm, prepare for launch"...

* * *

At the ground,group storm made their way toward the coordinates given by Mei. Halfway,they split into two teams, one that would extract the galactik kids. Sinedd had been allowed to be part of that group,as he needed to save his sister. Sonny stayed behind, close to the entrance, getting the hologram ready. "Be careful Dad, I don't want to loose you, "said D'Jok as he parted from the trio that Sonny stayed with, two pirates he did not know, Otis and Another guy who was srcuffy looking. Sonny smiled reassuringly at his son" Be careful son, and listen to Corso, he is your commander right now. remember the device on your arm. It will allow you to transport yourself and one person to safety. I will see you back at the ship" he smiled, as D'Jok went with Corso.D'Jok saluted. As Corso and his group left, Sonny was alone with two other men from his crew. They were to serve as protection for him in Corsos absence. He turned on his hologram. Well, time to put things in motion and get answers. Sonny cleared his voice and yelled "Magnus Blade, come out for a talk!"The pirate chief thunderd out the words. He had to intimidate Magnus, to make him come face to face with him. Now, time to see if he took the bait. He did not have to wait long before the shaddow of the other man appeared. Magnus had put on a mask again, this time, one of gold. And he did not seem worried. Sonny was wondering why, but he remained in hiding as of now, creeping in the shadows. If Magnus made his hologram for a fake, this could turn ugly, and Corsos worries proved right. That was not part of Sonnys plan."Why Sonny Blackbones,I am honored by your personal visit. To what do I owe that pleasure?"He said. Sonny gritted teeths. No he was playing games. He knew full well why he was here."You stole my ship, you kidnaped two snow kids, and a whole team of kids, the kids my son coaches.I am here to find out why, you did this for a reason, and I will find out what, and if need be, stop your plan from progressing forwards" he said. Magnus Blade went closer to the Hologram."Then let us talk Sonny, as I got all I need in place for my plan already,and there is nothing you can do to stop it. You would do wise to reconsider your position as leader, as you should have foreseen this, you of all people. To exile me, and steal my place comes at a price Sonny, one you have yet to pay"he said, moving closer to the Rocks where Sonny and his two men hid. Sonny involuntarily gasped as Magnus set course directly for where he was hiding, had Magnus figured out it was a hologram already. Silently, Sonny moved into a new position, to where he had an open escape route in case he needed it...

* * *

Mei had tried to make a training plan,but it was clear to see,she and Micro Ice lacked in many areas where Clamp and Aarch had knowledge."Aarch makes this seem so easy,I have no idea how to do this," said Micro Ice frustrated. Mei was just about to answer him,when someone grabbed her from behind and put their hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming."Hush, it is me" said a voice behind her. Then Mei recognized the gloves on the hands holding her. Corso!The pirate let go of her, as D'Jok did the same with Micro Ice."D'Jok, what are you doing here?" Micro Ice asked, puzzled. "Bringing the two of you home.I was allowed to go with the pirates on this one, although,I am not sure Dad was all that happy with the idea,"he said as he looked at Corso. Corso nodded back to him."You are right on that D'Jok, he would have prefeered you did not come with. But you and Sinedd pleaded a strong case, he was backed into a corner, and had no choice but to let you come. but let's not waste time here. We can talk about this aboard the ship. Take Micro Ice, I will take Mei, and we will meet up with the others at the decided meeting point. From there you will take the kids directly to the ship.I will make sure you get yourself and Mei and Micro Ice on board, before I will go help Sonny." said Corso, as he prepared the harnesses for the decvice they both had on their arms. Mei was surprised, "Sonny Blackbones is here?" she asked. Corso nodded."We got no time, let's get moving!" he ordered. D'Jok nodded and grabbed hold of Micro ice, and strapped him into the harness and activated the device his dad had given him. Mei looked at Corso, who also had a similar device on his arm."Don't overthink this Mei, we got no time for that!" Said Corso as he grabbed her and activated his device. later, they all landed close to the Black Manta where she was docked. Corso looked around, and spotted the hologram of a hooded Sonny, whom was having words with Magnus Blade in the distance. Sonny did not move, but when Magnus did, there was a tell tell sign something was off. "It's a hologram, it is not Magnus. I am not sure Sonny can see it. I will make sure he makes to the ship" he stated as Magnus had some disturbance with hologram. D'Jok showed up in the cargo hold of the Black Manta, after placing Mei and Micro ice in the lounge of the ship. "We are ready to fly out Corso." he said. Corso nodded. "D'Jok, take care of your team mates,Sinedd and the others should be here.I will assist Sonny. We will be here in a few minutes" he said as he ran off to help his friend. D'Jok nodded under his hood. He saw Corso reach Sonny, and had a few words, where as Sonny terminated his hologram projection to avoid being detected, and made a run back towards the Ship. behind him, a large group materialized, the galactik kids was running on board, led by Sinedd and the team."Where is Corso, and Sonny?" Sinedd looked at D' Jok,whom beckoned outside. When he looked. he saw both the pirates running in a hail of lasers, towards the ship."Artie, warm the engines and be ready for take off!"Sonny's voice could be heard on the speaker system. "But what about the other ship?"Asked Sinedd. Bennett calmly looked at him."It is already on it's way back to the lair. Sonny has ordered all men to Akillian, to assist in the next step. You will get your things back there." he said. The Black Manta started to lift from the ground."Wait! They are not on board yet!" Yelled D' nodded. "Don't worry, Sonny and Corso will make this, you'll see." he said. And true to his word, D' Jok could see both Sonny and Corso make a leap and hoist themselves on to the loading ramp, as Artie closed the door. "We're out of here, set a course for the Aarch academy on Akillian Bennett,we got work to do!"Sonny turned to face his son and the rescued abductees. "Welcome aboard the Black Manta.I am captain Sonny Blackbones. One of our medics will soon check you out if there is any medical emergency as a result of all this! Artie, make sure some food is being arranged, we got some starved kids here in need of nutrition"he said. Artie saluteded Sonny, and went to follow orders" Deploy stealth mode. We are in a hurry to get back to Akillian, Bennett, Artie, deploy search parties around the ship, to make sure we carry no stowe aways. I will hold the fort here till you are done." Sonny said and drew his laser. As the threesome entered the ship, Sonny ordered D'Jok and Sinedd to guard the other side, he himself crouched down, weapon drawn, ready to protect the kids at all cost... _ok, hope this updated version is without too many spelling mistakes or missed words. I do see it happen from time to time. I hope this version is better than the last one._


	3. Chapter 3

Sonny remained in a crouched down position behind a protective wall of an unknown metal, inside The Black Manta. He had his weapon drawn at all times. The wiggly Hush Sharky caused so much disturbance with his wiggling around, Sonny ordered Sinedd to tie him up and gag him. Sinedd obeyed the order with a smirk. He still remembered the lies this cyclop had told him about his parents, and had wanted to settle the score for some time. Sonny sent a quick look at the kids, whom huddled together, clearly scared.

"Are you kids all ok?" he asked softly.

The kids nodded. Then, the young lightnings girl, Mira, looked at Sonny.

"You are Sonny Blackbones. There is a reward for your capture, for five million standard units. But, you dont act like a bad guy" she concluded.

Sonny smiled at her, still on guard.

"Not everything is as Technoid tries to make it out to be. You kids should not worry about that. That is for grown ups. But trust me, I am not here to cause any of you any harm, nor is my men. We will make sure you are back with your parents as soon as it is possible. But tell me,did this bad man hurt any of you?" he asked.

The kids shook their heads in unison. But one kid, Tommy, seemed to have some concern.

"I felt like the milk we had for breakfast tasted funny. Maybe it was old or something" he said.

Sonny sent him an assuring smile.

"My doctors on board will soon find out. They wont hurt you. If they do, come and tell me, I will make sure that doctor knows who is boss around here" he said.

"Wow" all the kids looked admiringly at the pirate chief.

Mei was finally addressing Sinedd, whom seemed more taken with his sister. It was almost as if he did not notice her presence at all. And D'Jok tended to Micro Ice. But it was like he sensed her distress. Once he had wrapped a blanket around Micro Ice whom seemed to be freezing, D'Jok turned to Mei, there was a worried look in her emerald eyes.

"Mei, are you all ok?" he asked.

Mei was not sure how to react. Both her boyfriend and ex boyfriend was here, to save them, and she should feel done with D'Jok, but when Sinedd ignored her, she felt like taking comfort in his arms.

"Im fine D'Jok, I guess..it is just a slight shock of it all" she tried.

D'Jok looked her, a few seconds longer than he should have, before Mei broke the contact. She headed over to a corner, close to where Sinedd sat with Sunja, and sat down. And it appeared Sinedd did not even notice she was there.

At that moment, Micro Ice let out a big sneeze,making D'Jok focus back on him. He tended to his best friend, but the scene had not gone by unnoticed. Sonny decided not to say anything yet. He was aware that Mei and D'Jok had broken up, things like that happened when you were young and a hothead like D'Jok could be. But there was also a chance to fix things. There was still emotions between them, he had seen it with his own eyes, but D'Jok would have to put away his own needs, as did Mei, if it was going to work. A relationship was a partnership, with two or more individuals. Sonny decided to keep an eye on things on this trip. A sound came from the secure door, and Corso appeared.

"All clear Sonny. All rooms have been searched. The ship is under our control again. And Doc is at the infirmary, getting set up to check the kids. Maybe D'Jok and Sinedd should go to the galley with Tin Can and start getting some food going? I am hungry from all the work" he said with a smile.

Sonny lowered his weapon and was about to say something when Mei approached them.

"Take care of the galactik kids first guys, I will handle the cooking. It is the least I can do as a thanks for your help. Tia told me where I could find everything in the galley, and to make sure Tin Can did not use too much salt" she grinned.

Sonny looked to Corso, then nodded. D'Jok needed time to prepare himself to talk to his ex girlfriend, and Sinedd was too focused on his sister to even notice Mei. It was understandable that she felt alone and left out. Corso seemed to get what Sonny was getting at.

"Follow me Mei, I will show you the galley of the ship" he said.

Once they had left, Sonny turned to his son and Micro Ice.

"That would settle the old debt Micro Ice. You saved my hide, this time I saved yours" he smiled.

"Aaatchoo. So it seems. I only wish I could have kicked this Magnus Balde fellows butt. Seriously, the man must be used to being around machines only. Not even proper food to get" he pouted.

D'Jok grinned.

"You would have been sent back first of all Micro Ice, cause you eat way too much, I am surprised you dont grow fat the way you eat. If he is poor, he cant afford to keep you around for long" he teased.

"Ha ha, you are really funny D'Jok" Micro Ice pouted, until he noticed Artie.

"Micro Ice, wow man, so good to see you" he cheered.

"Likewise Artie, any chance you can save me from father and son Blackbones?" Micro Ice said, before the looks on Sonny and D'Joks faces alerted him he had said something stupid.

"Uh oh.." he said.

D'Jok shook his head.

"Are you ever going to learn when to be silent Micro Ice?" he asked.

Sonny put a hand to D'Joks shoulder to calm his son, then he looked at the kids whom had all taken in this piece of information.

"Wow, how cool is that? Our coach is the son of the most wanted pirate in the galaxy, not to mention the coolest" said Brian, one of the boys.

"Ok, now that you know, can you promise me to keep this a secret? This is not very good for D'Jok if it gets known. It may make things difficult for him, and the snow Kids. Can you keep this secret, or should I ask my pirates to use a thing we have that will help you forget that you heard Micro Ice say it?" Sonny asked, rising to his full height.

Till now, he had been very silent, observing the scene. But now, he was entering the role as the ships commander and captain.

The kids looked at him.

"We will keep the secret. Wow, I can hardly believe it. Does that mean D'Jok is going to play with The Pirates in the future?" one of them asked.

Sonny shook his head.

"No, his family is The Snow Kids. The pirates is for extreme emergency only. And I will go to great length to make sure he does not join us" he said.

Bennett arrived, and saluted Sonny before the kids.

"Doc is ready at the infirmary. We can start whenever you want Sonny" he said.

Sonny nodded, then turned to the kids again.

"Ok, doctors check up. Who wants to be first to tell me wheter he did his job right or not?" he asked...

It was a few days of restitution for The Snow Kids and The pirates currently on Akillian and Aarch Academy. Clamp had received word from Sonny, the kids had been rescued, the pirates would stop at Shiloh to refuel the ship, before they set course for Akillian. Time now indicated they were three days away from returning. Sonny had chosen some detours deliberately to avoid Magnus tracking them. With how he had abducted them the first time, Sonny did not take any chances now. It could just as easily be done again, if Magnus had the exact coordinates of The Black Manta. They were flying in stealth mode, wich impressed the kids. Dame Simbai had been worried about the kids health, but Sonny had his doctor send her the files on all of them, showing all was well under the circumstances. His crew on board made sure to entertain the kids, and the kids had made some awesome new friends. But it was a secret between them and the pirates. Aarch had talked to Warren, whom was also involved with the team and told him of the pirates intervention in matters. Some parents were weary of this, the pirates was wanted by the Technoid,and their leader Sonny Blackbones, had a bounty on his head,for 5 million standard units. Surely, that had to mean that he was a dangerous man, and possibly a danger for their children. But with the help of the league and Aduim, the pirates was given a vote of confidence. The kids would be fine. And the League did not see Sonny the way Technoid did.

On Aarch Academy, this was a day to relax and do gaming. Ahito took time to rest, until the Pirates player named Kate got him up and interested in some intricate game. Thran and Hawkins had partnered up, going head to head on a game. Tia was learning from Davison, whom had a degree in nutrition. He even shared the secret diet that Sonny and Corso used to follow. Tia grinned.

This could work for her and her team too. Rocket had joined forces with Stevens, whom used the time to explore the area of the school. For once the pirate could lower his shoulders, and not worry about being caught by Technoid. As he was the captain of The pirates, Rocket learned a lot of play strategy from him, things he could implement as a trainer. It was clear, winning really was not the pirates aim, it was about doing your best, with the resources you had available. Rocket could not help but ask Stevens.

"Dont you wish your team had a flux sometimes? The way it is, you are kind of the underdogs of the cup. You dont really stand a chance of winning do you?" he asked.

Stevens nodded behind his mask.

"I have heard stories, but it is more a myth than anything else. The pirates did once have a flux, when the planet most of us are from was still a planet. I take it, you have read some history right? About the cursed flux wars?" he asked.

Rocket nodded.

"Those classes were never the most fun. I am afraid I fell asleep quite a lot" he admitted.

Stevens nodded.

"Understandable, as much is boring. But a long story made short, we lost our flux when the planet Escaron was blown up. Since then, the pirates has been flux less, and a lot of outsiders has joined us. Among them, Sonny, our beloved leader. It is thanks to him and his drive we are what we are today. The pirates will never speak ill of him. He is by far the best leader we ever had." Stevens smiled.

"But what if something was to happen to him, like if Technoid arrested him?" Rocket asked.

Stevens was glad he wore goggles.

"May the galaxy forbid that ever happens. Without him, we would be sunk. And Sonnys file is one we have yet not been able to decipher. We all feel that if he is imprisoned, there is no expiration date on his sentencing. They will lock him away for good. Option two, is one we know from our own investigations. Those that get captured, that flee them, are often used for medical experiments by Technoid. That is one very scary option Sonny may face,he used to work for them, before someone in the hierarchy tricked him and Clamp, into almost starting a new war, against their will. Sonny turned against them at that time, sometimes I wonder if he did not even turn before that, but that became the turning point that made him a fugitive, at a very high price. He lost his wife, whom we all know he loved deeply, and thought he had lost his son too. That he found D'Jok is a blessing. It has made the worst of his fury with Technoid die down, but still..the loss of his wife, at their hand, will always make them enemies. If they were to capture him, I fear, they may end up killing him, during their medical tests. Sonny would fight as long as he is able, but even he has limits. He is human, even if that is sometimes hard to believe" he said.

Rocket nodded. He had learned a valuable lesson from Stevens. They returned to the lounge and the others..

It was nightfall and Clamp had made sure to use the markers he was told by Sonny, to prepare the field outside Tustra Tower, The Snow Kids stadium, for the landing of The Black Manta. The parents of the galactik kids would be waiting inside the academy for their youngsters. The league had made sure that none had contacted Technoid, and that the papers Aarch and Aduim had drawn up, also included Sonny and his crew. As the Black Manta landed, the kids was brought swiftly into the building and met their parents. Sonny and his men held back, not sure what kind of welcome they stood to receive, until the parents asked for them. They wanted to thank their kids rescuers. Sonny and his men agreed to do so. That night, the pirates gained a lot of new, much needed support for themselves and their cause, as they would tell them. The only thing that remained secret, was the connection between Sonny and his son. Sonny felt it best to limit the number of people that knew, to protect his son. He felt weary, like there was a dark shadow looming over the team, and The snow kids. Whatever was up, he had limited time to find out.

The tests that he had his doctor take had been sent to Dame Simbai, whom shared it to the flux society. So far, there was nothing that indicated anything wrong, but Sonny had a bad feeling. He could not pinpoint where from, but something was about to happen. But until he knew more, he had to focus on what they had. The flux society had requested, since he would stay at the Aarch Academy for a while, now that they had made sure the pirates had immunity there, that he and Clamp look at the resonance issue that had occurred during the paradisian cup. As soon as they had time, Sonny and Clamp headed to Clamps lab, where the work started. They had all the samples from each of the player they knew were affected by the resonance, and their teams. But there was a few teams not there. And Sonny had to weigh the pros and cons on setting up some kind of surveillance on the teams, in order to get things taken care of. Clamp and Sonny worked to get as far as they could with creating something that would combat the resonance. But they only got so far. Clamp could tell Sonny was frustrated over it. Things had been flowing so great, until they ran into a brick wall.

"Sonny, why dont you take your team for a practice session in the holo trainer? I heard there are several Snow Kids that want to play The Pirates, with the secret weapon of theirs on the pitch" Clamp chuckled.

Sonny looked at him.

"Those boys of mine are blabber mouths at times. Who was it this time that told? They know this can only happen in a training setting. Corso would throw a fit if I ever suggested going on the pitch in a uniform to play. He thinks it is way too dangerous" Sonny admitted with a grin.

Clamp shrugged.

"Last time I checked, you like these kinds of dangers. And I am sure you would have no problems avoiding the Technodroids, they are light years behind you when it comes to quick thinking" Clamp laughed.

Sonny had to agree.

"It is not a bad idea though. And it will be a treat for The Snow Kids as well. Or did Stevens push them hard, like I told him not to do for now?" Sonny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Clamp smiled.

"No, he stuck by the rules you gave him" Clamp informed.

Sonny nodded.

"We are not getting any further as of now, we need a key piece of information to bring about a resolution to the resonance. If it is allowed to progress unchecked, we may have no champion teams at all, all flux teams will be affected, depending on the play time they had on the pitch in deep arena and deep stadium. The equipment there drained at least four teams at the time. And they did not know for sure if all the multi flux Harris had, had been destroyed. Could Magnus have tricked them, and have a badge ready to create a new wave of resonance? Well, if it was from the paradisia multi flux, he and clamp had the anti multiflux ready to strike against it. Sonny could not quite get what it was that Magnus planned. Until he knew more, he could at least have some fun with his men, and play some football with his sons team.

"Clamp, feel up for a training session in the holo trainer, Pirates versus Snow Kids? Its time D'Jok gets to play against his old man" he grinned...

D'Jok could hardly believe it when he saw his father line up in the pirates training suit. He had heard that his father was a coach, but did he play also? Sonny signalled to Clamp to start the holo trainer. The teams lined up, and it came as no suprise that D'Jok lined up against his father.

"Remember Snow Kids, no play with flux. This is all a team work excersice. And the pirates are great teachers in this matter, learn from them while you can" Clamp suggested.

And as expected, D'Jok was unprepared for his father stealing the ball right under his nose.

"Wake up D'Jok, The Pirates are about to score against us, and you are snoozing" yelled Rocket.

That finally made D'Jok wake tried to catch up with Sonny, whom easily swept the ball away from him, D'Jok could only watch as the Sonny sent the ball in a very precise passing to Kate, that battled it out with Mei, before Stevens got the ball and put it in the net behind a baffled Ahito.

"Wow, that was amazing. I was so caught up watching Sonny play, I completely forgot that I was playing" Ahito managed.

The Snow Kids tried to rally back, and it became an even match, but the pirates was playing a far more united game than them. As they had a small break, Sonny grinned at his son.

"How does it feel to play against your own father? I will go easier at the next half" Sonny grinned as he drank some water.

"You never told me you played yourself. I suppose you are the pirates secret weapon on the pitch" D'Jok commented.

Sinedd nodded.

"Those are some skills you show out there. I am having a hard time keeping up" he said.

Sonny chuckled.

"I am not the secret weapon the pirates have on the pitch in competition. It would be too dangerous. But I do part take in friendly matches, when we have time to spare" he said.

As the half time was over, the teams entered for round two..

Magnus looked at them from the hidden camera this holo trainer had installed. Luckily, the pirates had not found it and disabled it. Magnus had prepared this move some time. It would put the pirates at a disadvantage when it was done, a locator beacon in each of them, that they could not control. If Technoid failed to find them now,they did not deserve the capture. Sonny himself was playing with them, that became an added bonus. For him personally, Sonny had become competition to the title as leader again, and Sonny was a threat to his plan that could not be down played. He was also very intelligent, and able to think outside the box to solve a problem. To Magnus, this was things that created a problem. A problem he had to deal with. And now, he had a weapon ready to strike against him with. One Sonny was unaware of. It would not affect the Snow Kids inside the holo trainer, if he miscalculated, Sonny would catch on to his plan too fast. Magnus knew he could control the energy field he was about to make use of. He had them all in view, well, time to put this show on the road. Magnus grinned as he activated the beam..

D'Jok felt a slight rumble as the holo trainer started to shake. Sonny ordered full stop in what they were doing. To see him step into command mode like this was amazing. Sonny had both teams gather in the center of the holo trainer as the lightning bolts seemed to get closer.

The Snow Kids had already witnessed this before, and now they were frightened. It was not the Club Galactik holo trainer that was faulty. This thing was targeting them it seemed, and Sonny was at a loss for how to counter strike.

The Snow Kids were pushed into the middle while The Pirates formed a protective ring around them. Then, as the beam reached them, it was like a powerful counter reaction to the intrusive beam took place. A beam that shifted into a massive purple coloured shield. It lashed back at the beam, with immense force, the beam was neutralized. The Snow Kids was breathing, looking horrified at what they had just seen. That was when they noticed how strong this had been. Sonny, and all of his pirate players dropped to their knees, as if their strength had completely vanished. Sonny tried to push himself up by using his arms. D'Jok freed himself from the haze and crouched down beside his father. At that very moment, Clamp was able to take the Holo trainer down. Dame Simbai and Aarch stormed into the center along with Corso, to tend to the striken Pirates. With D'Joks help, Sonny was able to get up on his feet just as Corso reached them. Corso had an expression of utter shock as he looked at his friend.

"Sonny..you..the team..why in shilohs name are you all glowing?" Corso managed.

It was only now it seemed Sonny realised what kind of condition he himself and his team were in. Their bodies was engulfed in a purple light, one he had not seen before.

Looking at his hands, Sonny shook his head in disbelief.

"I should have known, he had a sample all along. He made sure to keep it out of my reach when he ran. What was thought to be a myth, may actually have some credibility to it now " Sonny said, looking at his hands.

Corso looked sceptical at him.

"What is that supposed to mean Sonny?" he asked.

"This.." Sonny looked at his glowing hands, then his striken players.

"Dame Simbai is the right person to conduct a medical check up, but I already suspect what she will find. Magnus has modified it from its original form, all I need is a small sample, to isolate the true essence,and find a way to reverse engineer it back to how it is meant to be. But what we are seeing Corso, is a game changer for The Pirates as a team. Quite litterally" Sonny stated.

Corso gasped as it dawned on him what Sonny meant.

"In Shilohs name, you mean this glowing matter, is actually flux? That The pirates are now more at risk than ever, not to mention what this means for you personally. Sonny, if this is flux, you need to wear an inhibitor right away, the entire team does. If Technoid gets wind of this, Magnus just stripped your last possibility of hiding. The glow is subsiding in the others, but with you it stays strong. Sonny...I.. You need to be examined, right now, then, I got the inhibitor bracelet ready" Corso managed.

Sonny nodded. Corso was right, and he knew it. He tried to take a step forth, and fell to the ground.

"Dont worry, I have seen this before. Sonny has to get used to his flux, he will be fine. I will need to send a sample to The flux society though, to determine wich flux is" Dame Simbai said, as Corso and D'Jok helped Sonny to his feet.

As soon as all the pirates were gathered outside Dame Simbais clinic, she got to work, starting with Sonny...

Brim Balarius was in a state of utter shock when he saw the results Dame Simbai brought before him.

"This is most distressing. This flux could destabilize the entire galaxy. It is very old, born from chaos and destructive energy. And yet, it has returned, in an altered state. How are the Pirates striken handling this?" he asked.

Dame Simbai looked serious.

"All returned to normal within the hour, but Sonny is not taking any chances. We extracted a small sample from Sonny, for Clamp and Sonny to conduct studies,and come up with a solution. For now, Sonny has ordered his men to wear inhibitor bracelets until we know more. What we do know, is that an ancient prophesy has come to pass. The demise of the planet Escaron led to the Seed of Shiloh vanishing. But, whatever caused this, has led to its return. Sonny is not an official player, but he is the leader of the organization. I am a bit puzzled that the seed manifested so strongly in him Grand Master" Dame Simbai said.

Brim Balarius nodded.

"Everything has a reason Dame Simbai, and the seed of Shiloh manifesting in Sonny Blackbones body is no coincidence. There are evil forces at play, forces that wants to once again start division, wich is something Sonny stands against. Whomever is behind all this, has motives that are yet unclear. But what is certain, is that we need to find all the available old files on this flux, to understand how it works, and how The pirates can use it. As a non flux team, there may be a great temptation to use such a tool in the cup, to gain an advantage. But for every advantage, there is a down side. Whomever caused this to happen, has calculated on the side effect to stop Sonny and his men from interfering in their business. The Seed of Shiloh appears very strong. Our readings are of the chart, suggesting Sonny was right, it has been enhanced for a purpose. And as of now, that purpose may be to put a locator beacon on the pirates, in an attempt to have Technoid track them" he concluded.

Dame Simbai agreed.

"I have prepared a special kind of nutrient for them, it will help them cope better. Should I inform Sonny, or tell him that you wish to speak to him personally Grand Master?" she asked.

Brim Balarius looked at his learned council members.

"Tell him, we wish to speak to him as soon as possible"...

Sonny sat up from the bed, very slowly. Corso had entered the room they chose to share moments earlier, and offered him a hand. Sonny took it.

Corso had come to report.

"It is no doubt Sonny, it came from the location where we know Magnus has his strong hold. He has some new technology available to him, one that we are unfamiliar with. We need to upgrade The Black Manta and all our other ships to withstand this. Magnus may be a money person, but he is also dangerous. I just dont get what his motive is" Corso sighed.

Sonny pushed himself up.

"His motive is clear as day Corso, he has decided to become a pirate again. But he wont bow to the ways that applies now. So he has found some new allies, allies we dont yet know who are. We need all available information to figure out what his next step is. But his end goal seems clear" Sonny concluded.

Corso looked at him.

"Then, what is his end goal Sonny? I am afraid I dont see it" Corso said.

"He is playing divide and conquer Corso. To get to his end goal, he will make me a target. He wants his title back. Magnus is planning a new duel to fight me for the role as Leader of the pirates"...

Brim Balarius was amazed at the results of the flux sample that they had from Sonny. The flux was clearly still in an altered state, but it seemed that in Sonny, a process of purifying it back to its original state was already taking place. It was a very unique process, and Brim Balarius ordered regular samples taken from Sonny. His council members also looked at him.

"It is a very unusual pattern with this flux. I would be under the impression that the flux has manifested as strongly with him, because he is infact a flux master. It is rare to see anyone like that. We will have to keep a close eye on him, and help him gain the understanding he needs to control it. Someone is trying to start division, and this time, it seems to be aimed at The pirates as our associates. We must intervene as soon as possible, and help prevent a galactik terror from once again striking our peaceful galaxy...

_I had to start reading through old chapters of this story, and realised an entire chapter was missing. Since I could not find it on my computer, I had to write it anew. And as a result, the entire story will receive a make over in the chapters. Nothing major, but here and there, it may be a bit longer, or shorter depending on the storys needs. Hopefully, it will be liked._


	4. Chapter 4

_I have gotten help from Paranoidgirl to betaread my chapters, to improve my stories. Thank you so much for your hard work Girl, I am truly looking forwards to this work with this fic now. To all who have made remarks, I hope the changes made will be to your satisfaction. Please rewiew as any feedback will be helpfull to help me develop my story._

At the flux society, Brim Balarius had called a meeting. As soon as the hologram connected with Dame Simbai, they looked at the incident in the holo trainer.

"No abductions this time." Dame Simbai said. "But that may not have been the plan either." Brim Balarius nodded.

"The full manifestation of the Seed of Shiloh is reason for concern. Most of the pirates players are still developing the seed. Sonny is a different story. His seed is extremely strong. It would surely put a locator on him, if he was to use it. I will need to speak with him, to have him work on controlling it."Brim Balarius said, crossing his arms. "This flux has not been used in so long, it has vanished from our records. Sonny Blackbones also appears to have limited knowledge of this flux. The pirates will search their data bases for any and all available information that there may be." Dame Simbai informed.

"Sonny will have to look into all available information from the Pirates' database for sure.. It's not just the Flux Society who is worried about it. It's also a concern for the Pirates themselves." She said.

"How are they currently dealing with this? what kind of protective measures has been put in place so far?" Balarius asked with concern.

"Sonny ordered all affected pirates to wear a flux inhibitor for now, until he and Clamp can get a closer look at this Flux to determine if it is the original form of The seed of Shiloh,or synthetically made like the Multiflux and Metaflux. They will also try to determine if it poses a danger to the stability of the Galaxy or not in this current state." Dame Simbai explained. "For now, Sonny has forbidden his players to use the Flux in any match, he needs more data to make a decision." she reported. At this, Brim Balarius nodded.

"Tell Sonny he will be given access to all recorded information we have of this Flux. As soon as he can find time, I wish to speak to him" he said. Dame Simbai nodded.

"Thank you, Grandmaster. I will let him know when he comes for the daily test said, Sonny had one major question that he wants answered." she informed. Brim Balarius looked at her, eyebrow raising.

"How could Shiloh, just an asteroid in its current state , have a flux of its own?" she wondered out loud.

"No planet is known to have been part of the Shiloh archipelago." Dame Simbai said. "Do you know anything about this?" She asked as Brim Balarius creased his forehead in taught before he nodded.

"I will need to speak to Sonny in person, to show him this story. I figured the leader of the Pirates would know this already but it seems that part of the records have been destroyed before Sonny could read it. I will see to it that Sonny is brought up to speed on the matter." he promised. Dame Simbai bowed her head.

"I will inform him."

* * *

At Shiloh, Magnus Blade was very pleased with his test. The Laser Beam, as he called it, had been a perfect set up. It felt like laughing in Sonny's face. Magnus had a nasty side to him that he mostly kept hidden.

Seeing Sonny again had brought that mean streak back to life. He had no intention to kill any of his former friends or Pirates but he felt he needed to show Sonny that challenging and claiming his title as Leader did come at a price. At Paradisia, he had summoned Sonny and he Pirates as he needed their help with Vega and Harris. It had led to him recruiting Sonny's son, D'Jok, on his team. D'Jok was just like the Sonny he had known when he first joined them. A bit naive, but ambitious, and driven. The biggest difference was that Sonny had not shown a big ego like D'Jok. He had been more careful, watchful even. Magnus could remember he had see suspicion in the blue eyes of I'Son, Sonny's real name, before he took the name Sonny Blackbones, and became a full blood Pirate. Magnus had sent Corso, his toughest instructor, to train Sonny and make him become the pirate he was now. And the nervous, and scared I'Son, had given way for Sonny Blackbones, a man filled with the desire for revenge. Sonny had quickly adapted to Pirate life, risen in rank and become Captain. Right before that, the Pirates had held a meeting, voting for who they wanted as their leader. Sonny had been elected with no real challenge but it was only when he challenged Magnus that he realised that the young Captain, whom had the makings of a great leader, had now become one. Magnus had heard of it all over the galaxy as a businessman. Sonny's name was well known, and it did not seem to bother him that the bounty kept rising. Magnus sometimes wondered why no one seemed to want to collect that bounty. Apparently the Pirates had a lot more support than he first thought.

Sonny and his men now had the Seed of Shiloh in them. His version of the Seed, that was. And it had bonded with the Breath of Akillian, the Lightning's Flux, and a few others. But the link with these would be weakened over time, as these people had not fully developed their Flux to perfection and mastery. The Breath of Akillian was still a growing Flux, even in the Red Tigers and The Snow Kids. The Seed of Shiloh would slowly return to its natural form. Sonny, being a former scientist, would see both pros and cons to this Flux. Con, like how it could be traced unless some of the Pirates had an idea on how to keep it from being detected. Pros like how it would allow the Pirates as a team to be more equal to other Flux teams and reach further in the competition. If Team Paradisia had not had any flux, they would not have gone far in the competition either, not even as cyborgs. But Sonny was always very careful. He had learned the hard way that if not, it could spell disaster.

Magnus shook his head. He was getting as sentimental as Sonny.

"Any news from Akillian or our friends?" He asked his second-in-command.

"Our spy reports Sonny and the Pirates that played the Snow Kids were striken down, but it was nothing serious. However, the blast wave concerned Sonny enough to order a checkup by Dame Simbai. They were declared fine in less than an hour. But Sonny is reported to deliver daily samples, by our spy. He is concerned about this, not really sharing his thoughts with anyone but Corso, Dame Simbai and Clamp" He was told. "For now, Sonny has ordered all players to wear Flux inhibitors until the Flux Society makes a decision on whether or not this Flux poses a threat to the galaxys stabiity in its current state." Magnus nodded.

"The inhibitor will work for now. Sonny does not have immunity, so he will be alert for danger, especially from Technoid." He said.

"As the seed of Shiloh grows stronger within each player, we will see if Sonny can control it. I would love to see the Pirates be equal to the Flux teams,The boys work very hard,a place in the final would be a reward they truly deserve. Fair play is good, but it only gets you so far. Giving the Pirates a flux may tip an election for a new leader in my favour. Sonny is popular among his men, but he has cracks in his armour, and I will use those cracks to make him bow to me again" Magnus thought out loud. His second-in-command was not convinced.

"It won't be easy to make the Pirates turn on him with the amount of loyalty they have for him. I have never seen any Pirate Leader hold that much loyalty for this long." he said. Magnus nodded.

"Yes, Sonny is a very unique person and he is well regarded. Having the Pirates leave his side will be anything but easy. But for the sake of the organization, it will be necessary. Sonny will be given a choice about his own future among the pirates in due time. I dont want to kill him. He is an asset, no matter who he works for. An asset I can make use of, if he is willing to negotiate" he said.

"Don't you think Sonny will figure a way to both use the Flux in the Pirates' best interest, and strike back at you? Sonny isn't one to sit around and twiddle his thumbs. He will act and is no stranger to taking risks. You should know, you were the one that trained him" his second in command reminded him. Magnus nodded.

"I studied his growth as a leader in the past. Sonny has the respect of his people and he is a great leader. But he needs to find a way to make money for his men too. That may not be as easy as it sounds, when you are a pirate" He said.

"Even he has weaknesses and I know what they are. This is not about punishing Sonny, I moved on from that. It's more about showing him that even he can be wrong and that the Pirates may need someone else's leadership. He cooperates, he will be treated fair, he resists, I will exile him, according to the rules. Or maybe I should just hold him prisoner, for his own sake. You never know when the bounty for him may come in handy. Keeping him a prisoner would give me some leverage with Technoid, and a secret money pot" Magnus said. His second in command looked at him.

"The pirates as an organization have a clear objective; defy Technoid and seek the truth. As I understand, Sonny has made good on this promise and he has a strong network of supporters around him. This includes; The Flux Society, the Obia Moon ambassadors, Aarch, Adium and many more. Sonny is extremely well protected. How are you going to go about this? Through his son? To surrender Sonny to Technoid would cause a major problem withing our own ranks. Not everyone likes him, but no one would want to see them get him either. He is a lot more valuable to Technoid than they are willing to pay" He stated.

" I agree, Technoid is not willing to pay what Sonny is really worth. And regarding his son,no." Magnus said, stroking his beard. "D'Jok has already suffered enough in many ways. The boy has had a real identity crisis since his girl friend left him. I took advantage of this,and his anger on Paradisa. Ever since, D'Jok seems to have struggled with coming to terms with things. Besides, any attack on his son will lead to Sonny striking back. We don't want that. Sonny is best to have as a an enemy. He's skilled in many ways. I do something to his son, Sonny is sure to intervene, and he might not be too happy about how things develop. An angry Sonny is even worse news than his normal calm self. When Sonny gets angry, he is down right dangerous, because he is getting even more determined to get things taken care of. " Magnus concluded. His second-in-command looked at him, confused.

" Then how do we deal with him? He could pose a threat to us and our cause." He asked. Magnus simply nodded that.

"Sonny is sentimental. In the past all of his enemies have taken advantage of that. That said, he's probably prepared for that at this point. Sonny has someone by his side, that acts as a voice of reason. The one that can reach him even in the worst storms, let me show you." A screen lit up as Magnus opened several files. The first one showed an image of D'jok. "Chances are that security around his son is raised but there are a few other options. D'Jok will be watched over. That is not advicable,unless we intend to piss Sonny off" he said.

" Then who?" His second in command looked at the screen curiously. Magnus grinned.

"I suspect that his former co worker and friend Clamp also has a high security around him. But that is not where I intend to strike."

Magnus pulled up another image with the Pirates team and staff.

"The technical staff of the pirates?These are Sonnys closest men, are you sure this is a wise idea?" The second-in-command looked confused.

"Not all of them. I will target the one that is Sonnys closest. The closer to home,the clearer the message" Magnus said, separating the image. During his time with the Pirates, Sonny was not the easiest to get close was secretive about his past… but one of us did break through his barriers." He enhanced the image of Corso. "Corso is Sonny's right hand man, Sonny trusts him with his life. If Corso was to go missing or injured, Sonny would be vulnerable." Magnus nodded to himself. "If we get Corso, we will be able to control Sonny. He would not risk injury to his best friend" Magnus looked at his second-in-command. "Ready a team. We will sweep the rug from under Sonny's feet this time."

* * *

In Clamps laboratory, Sonny was studying the samples he had of the Seed of Shiloh from today. Clamp looked at him.

"Are you getting any closer to a solution to this?" He asked. Sonny didn't answer. Clamp could see how focused he was. It made him remember their work on the meta flux, the invention that could easily have started a Galactic war. Sonny had been right all along, history kept repeating itself. Clamp looked at the Flux gauge.

"Sonny, are you sure this is the natural Seed of Shiloh? It appears enhanced." He asked.

"Yes, it is. It is not its original form as of now. But I should be able to remove the strains that is mixed in. As soon as that is taken care of, we will have a better idea of how the flux is originally like." Sonny said as he took off his goggles.

"It has been enhanced and mixed with the Breath of Akillian and the other Fluxes used by the Galactik kids. The flux taken from them is not fully developed, though, so it might dissolve and disappear. It may make the Seed of Shiloh appear in its natural form but I wouldn't bet on it. I have many theories about what could be the outcome but nothing solid to go on. Which causes a new set of problems..." Sonny said as he put the tubes back into a holder before he removed his gloves and turned to Clamp. "Bleylock's version of Multi Flux, was only the first synthetic flux Clamp. The methods we developed, and the processes we used, has been used to make some kind of manual for how to mix fluxes and create a dangerous weapon. From the look of things, Bleylock did take at least part of our research, when we robbed him of the Meta flux, he just found new scientists, willing to give it a go, and used our work as basis, to create the second version. What made the Meta flux weak was that it was purely synthethic, the multi flux was a mixture of many fluxes. He took things a step further, using our science as a back to what we are dealing with here. What we are looking at now is a version that consists of the Galactik Kids' fluxes, the Breath of Akillian and lastly, the Seed of Shiloh. This created a new strain of Multiflux. We will have to use the old formula to fabricate a new anti Multiflux for this version, just to be on the safe side. When it comes to The Seed of Shiloh, This flux alone can produce power that is many times stronger than the Multiflux on Paradisia." Sonny said thoughtfully. "This Flux has the potential to cause a disaster unless the players who have it learn to master it. It's a disadvantage that I found almost nothing in the Pirates' archives about it. Artie and Bennett are working full time trying to locate information on it." Sonny sighed. "It seems much of it predates the Flux wars, during the time D'Jok and the Snow Kids were still infants. It's going to be hard to obtain that information. I would have to access computers that are monitored. That's a high risk of being detected. I don't know how Magnus managed to create this mix but he is not considering the dangers it poses to the pirates. It seems we have a split within our organization.I will put Corso and a few others on it to find out more. He must be stopped before this gets out of hand and the Pirates become victims of another man's greed. I just have to come up with a plan for how to do it." Clamp nodded.

"I think you will need a lot of help this time. The two of us may not be enough." Sonny nodded.

"We will ask people that knows their science to help out in the lab." He said. "No need to invite outsiders yet. I'll bring in Bennett, do you have anyone that can be helpful?" He asked. Clamp nodded.

"I was thinking of Thran." he said. Sonny nodded.

"Alright, you speak to Thran And Dame Simbai, we will need to inform the Flux Society of our findings. I know the pirates would like to play with The seed of Shiloh in cup matches but I will only allow it if we can revert it to its natural and unaltered state."

"A synthetically made Flux holds too many dangers. If you can manage to get it to the original state, it would be a much needed advantage, who knows how far that would lead, maybe all the way to GF champions" Clamp mused.

Sonny smiled at the thought. His men deserved it, and if it could be done, it would be the end of their underdog status on the pitch. Sonny hoped this would be a good thing after all for his men.

* * *

At the flux society, Grandmaster Brim Balarius was studying the flux sample that Sonny had provided them with.

"This is most disturbing, this flux is inauthentic and dangerous in this state. Are you able to isolate the original strain and contain it in its pure form?" He asked Sonny through their holographic link. Sonny nodded calmly.

"I agree Grandmaster. In its current state, it poses a threat but if it can be reversed back to its natural state,It may change its samples taken from me seem to break down the extra strains of other fluxes. Clamp will try to take a sample of my blood to see if it can be used in the other players as an agent to speed up the process" Sonny said. "We may get to study a Flux that has vanished from the records, when we can get to the original state.I am willing to provide the samples to make that happen." he said. Grandmaster Balarius agreed with his plan.

"The story behind The Seed of Shiloh is difficult to trace. It was shrouded in mystery even then, and the Pirates who back then played with it under the leadership of a woman whose name has vanished along with the records of this flux. It is piecing the bits together one piece at the time" He explained. Sonny nodded this.

"Only the Pirates' leader has access to those files. I have used my access codes to look up all relevant info, but I have come up empty so far. I will keep looking. The files excist, that I am sure of, I only need to find out where they have been hidden" He informed. "I will look into it. We need to know as much as possible to make sure that whatever this is,be it the original seed of shiloh or something else, is recognized and keept under surveillance." he informed. Grandmaster Balarius nodded.

"This was well before your time with the Pirates, Sonny. Before the Flux wars. I dont expect you to know everything yet." He said. "Be prepared that what you find, it may not at all resemble the Pirates as you know them. There is a history before your time, that is a lot darker and depressing than the one you have seen" Brim Balarius nodded.

"I understand." He said. "I will let you know what I find." With that, Sonny ended the transmission.

* * *

The Snow Kids prepared themselves to return to Genesis for the final sixteen. As three time Galactik Champions, they knew how it went by now. The journalists and all of the hustle and bustle.

Rocket had set up a Press Conference.

This year's matches, he would be present to pull the teams facing each other. Ahito was asked about the use of his flux in the last competition.

"I really won't say too much about it. It is an ability I'm born with and which I can use for my team. Lets leave it at that" He answered. Callie Mystic also had a question for D'Jok.

"D'Jok, now that you are a coach yourself for a young team, does this take away time for training?" She asked.

"Not at all, Callie. It's all very rewarding. I feel it allows me to grow as a footballer and also, as a person. The kids are great, and I am honoured to be their coach along with Warren" D'Jok stated. Callie turned to Tia.

"Tia, as the Snow Kids Captain, do you have any expectations as to who will be this tournaments two finalists?" She asked. Tia laughed.

"We all have our own wishes and favourites. I have many opponents I would love to see in a Finals but I also remind myself of what Aarch always taught us; before we get to the Finals, we must earn it and the way we will do that is by reinventing ourselves as a team and our way of playing." They were about to end the Press Conference, when Hush Sharky had a question.

"There have been rumours that The Pirates may be a strong contender this year as supposedly, they seem to have something that resembles a Flux of their own. Do the Snow Kids have anything to say about that?" he asked. The question shocked the Snow Kids. The Pirates' visit had been held secret, so how did Hush Sharky know this? From what they knew, Hush Sharky had been dealt with and had his memory erased. Had it not worked, or was the sleazy cyclops just reciting the gossip on the streets? Rocket took the microphone.

"Yes, we did invite the Pirates for a training boot camp at Akillian. The league helped assure immunity so they could train with have a remarkable team unity and sense of fair play. We felt we could learn something from them so through Aarch's contacts with the trainers of other teams, we managed to get in contact. The pirates were only too happy to help out. As far as wheter they have a flux or not, that is for them to tell, not us" Rocket said. They ended the Press Conference without other problems.

As they reached the hotel, D'Jok was worried.

"I don't like this Rocket. Wasn't Hush Sharky's memory erased by Sinedd on Aarch academy before Corso took him away?" He asked. Sinedd nodded.

" It he was removed from the Academy too. You think something went wrong?" He asked. D'Jok nodded.

"He was not at the Academy when the Seed of Shiloh took form. And the Pirates have laid low the last few months. From what I know, they are making developments with the flux, and Sonny is currently making his decision on wheter or not they will use it in the cup" D'Jok said, as he turned to Clamp. "Do you know something?" he asked. The old man looked at D'Jok.

"I spoke to Sonny a few nights ago. It's true that the Seed of Shiloh has now been purified and Sonny has made the call that the Pirates will use it in this competition. The pirates are highly motivated as a result. We will see a very different team now." He said. D'Jok nodded.

"So now the Pirates will be impossible to beat. We have a really rotten luck" Micro-Ice complained. Tia, Thrann and D'Jok smiled at the news.

"I think they will go far in the competition." Thran said. "The Pirates are already one of the coolest teams out there, but with Flux, they'll be even better."

"I still recall my trip with them, they are amazing people, with a lot of courage and truly deserve going all the way" Tia said. Micro-Ice and Mei agreed. "I even like Corso now, who would have thought?" Mei said as everyone shared a laugh.

* * *

Noork, Callie and Barry was all present in the studio as the random draw of the groups was about to start. Rocket felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the balls roll around inside the machine.

"Rocket, are you nervous about this year's competition?" Callie asked.

"Yes, this draw will lay the foundations for our gameplay, and determine how hard we have to play." Rocket answered. "And there are a few new Teams that we've never played against before. We're all very excited to see the results." Rocket said.

Well, let's not wait any longer, let the draw begin!" Callie exclaimed. Rocket felt his head spinning when he saw the balls come out. He still had not recovered from the side effects of Netherball and he was not sure he ever would become the same as before. Knowing how the flux had been pulled from the players in Netherball, Rocket knew he was not the only player suffering from these symptoms. All the players that had used Flux inside the sphere had reported similar problems but as he was the one that stayed in the longest, his case was the worst. Rocket could remember Clamp and Sonny's faces when they pulled their test samples, trying to isolate what had made him feel like this. Sonny had looked serious, but determined to crack the riddle. It could take some time, but eventually, they would solve it.

By attempting to keep himself calm, Rocket had, without thinking, kept an eye on Sonny and how he had handled the sample. He was a wanted man and the Chief of the Pirates but he was also a scientist, and his knowledge had come into play. The Galactik Kids, Mei and Micro Ice had been easy for Clamp and Sonny to deal with. The Kids' Flux had not been very strong as it was still developing and Sonny had managed to isolate the string of their Fluxes and the breath of Akillian away from the third component; The Seed of Shiloh. As for Rocket's own case, it was still not known how they could counter the damage Netherball had caused. Rocket was shaken from his thoughts by Callie's voice.

"And here are the results, ladies and gentlemen; Group A: The Snow Kids,The Shadows,The Sandmen of Memnor, Formerly Team Paradisia, now representing Technoid,The Electras and finally The Pirates." Rocket felt relieved. Except for one, all these teams were familiar.

"And now, let's see what the random draw for the Starting Matches. Noork said. The Electras versus The Snow Kids, The Sandmen of Memnor versus Technoid and The Shadows will be taking on The Pirates."

"Any comments on the draw, Rocket?" Callie asked. Rocket smiled.

"All the teams are very professional and great. Except for The Sandmen of Memnor, The Snow Kids have played all of them before. I believe it will be a very even tournament in this group." He said. Noork agreed.

"As we know, when it was revealed that Team Paradisia was infact cyborgs, they were robbed of the Flux the team had and left in Duke Maddox' and Technoid's care. Do you think this will affect the team's play?" He asked.

"For sure. Even without Flux, Team Paradisia had a very aggressive style of now know they learned that from D'Jok, during a less than proud moment in his career. We have forgiven him now, but he had to work hard to earn our trust again. When we learned more about it, we learned that Team Paradisia was easy to defeat if we knew D'Jok's playing style. As Cyborgs,The Team based their play on how D'Jok did it. This is a thing of the past for the Snow Kids. D'Jok realised himself that he needed to change things, and thanks to Warren, Artegor and Club Galactik, D'Jok was able to reinvent himself as a player and also as a person. Compared to the last cup, D'Jok is a team player again. I'm actually very excited to see how he will perform in this year's Cup." Rocket had a question.

"Rocket, when Aarch was still the Snow Kid's Coach, he made a habit of having a friendly match with a team before the start of the cup matches. Is this a tradition you intend to continue?" She asked with a smile. Rocket laughed.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it is. We will have a friendly match coming up soon. Under uncle Aarch's lead, we would either go with The Shadows or The Wambas. This time, as we put our focus on team play, we chose to ask The Pirates. The match will be held in Shiloh." Rocket smiled.

"When speaking of The Pirates, don't you consider them underdogs? After all, they don't have any Flux." Barry said as he felt he had been silent for long enough. Rocket shook his head.

"Whether you have Flux or not, Warren of the Lightnings taught us that the important thing is the game and nothing but the game. Analyzing things will only get us so far. It is by playing on the field that we learn who our opponent really is. The Pirates may be at a disadvantage without Flux but they are still great players, and I have the utmost respect for them." Rocket smiled.

* * *

At Aarch Academy Rooftop

D'Jok had sat down, looking at the stars. He thought of the last cup, his own betrayal of his Team, his errors in choices and how Sonny had finally sent him in the right direction. He also thought of Sinedd, his old rival. The very fact that they were now friends was hard to wrap his head around.

"Need company?" Sinedd asked, as he had come to join.

"Feel free." D'jok said as Sinedd sat down next to him.

"Sounds like we get an easy start with The Electras. There are worse teams to face" he said.

"Yes but we also have a friendly match coming up before that. Against a team with an unknown flux. That is going to give us an idea of where we stand" D'Jok said thoughtfully. Sinedd nodded.

"And since our trip, it's going to be a bit more difficult to play them, since they're friends now, right?" He asked. D'Jok nodded.

"It's not that it's my Dad's team that bothers me. It's all that has happened since the last Cup." He admitted. Sinedd nodded.

"It was a big change for both of us, D'Jok. I call it the identity crisis cup. I was shocked you left The Snow Kids for Team Paradisia. I really didn't think you had it in you." he admitted. D'Jok turned towards him.

"Who I was then and who I am now… It's hard to think it is the same person. I don't recognize myself in who I was." he said silently. Sinedd smiled.

"You're growing. I think, like for me, finding your father, has been good for you." D'Jok smiled when Sinedd mentioned his father.

"I'm proud Sonny is my dad and I'm proud of him for what he does. Since their Flux has manifested, I hope he will allow it to be used in the competition.I would love to see the pirates as a more equal team to us all" he said. Sinedd nodded.

"The Pirates Players are an awesome crew. I've spent time with them outside of Netherball, you can't help but admire their courage." He said.D'Jok nodded this.

"I agree. I know they always play all out, but without flux, it just is no way they could ever win." he said. Sinedd nodded.

"You know D'Jok, if we are ever eliminated from the cup, and they stay in, I would support them because I know they have with your team." he said. D'Jok nodded.

"So would I, Sinedd. So would I."

* * *

The Snow Kids were waiting for the Pirates to guide them to the location of the match. Rocket smiled as he saw a small ship approach to guide their shuttle to the site of the Match.

"I wonder who will come to greet us." Mei said as Sinedd kissed her cheek.

"It will be friends to The snow Kids no matter who it is." He smiled.

"True." Mei said. D'Jok was all smiles.

"I think I know." He said as the hatch that connected the two ships opened and Corso came out first.

"Good to see you all." He smiled before a second person jumped in.

"Sonny." The snow kids all got up to greet him.

"Good to see you all again." Sonny said. D'Jok looked at him before he broke into a smile.

"I don't know if I am psychic like Maya but I think we are in trouble for this friendly match." He said. Sonny chuckled.

"To be honest D'Jok, I have sometimes wondered if your mother was not a psychic. She seemed to know things in advance, things I know I didn't say out loud." he admitted. Corso chuckled, and made no attempt to hide it.

"Sonny has picked up the trait, he has an inhuman intuition. Most of us don't dare pull anything on him, he usually knows in advance." He laughed and D'Jok laughed too.

"That's not why I am saying it Dad, You look a lot more rested than usual and you are not wearing your flux inhibitor anymore. What's happened?" He asked. Sonny smiled.

"We found solutions to our problems, D'Jok. You're right, The Pirates will play harder than before in this friendly and we will also be using our flux; The Seed of Shiloh. This is going to be a challenge, as we intend to play hard" Sonny informed.

"Wow!" The Snow Kids exclaimed as they looked at each other. Tia was the first to break the silence.

"That's great news Sonny. I'm happy for The Pirates and I can't wait to see it in action." she smiled. The other Snow Kids nodded in agreement. Corso headed for the Bridge. "By the way Snow Kids, you're invited to a bonfire tonight. The pirates found a reason to celebrate, and this time,all my protests were drowned out" Sonny said, before he went to join Corso.

"Does that mean barbeque?" Ahito asked.

"Yes." Sonny smiled "And also a few surprises. Pirate style." He winked before he joined Corso to guide the Snow Kids' shuttle.

* * *

D'Jok looked around outside the shuttle with a smile.

"This isn't the Pirates Lair." He said. Sonny crossed his arms.

"How so? What makes you think this is not the real lair, we could have led you on earlier" He asked with a smile.

"There's too much activity here. To stay invisible, it would have to be a smaller is a temporary camp at best, for a special celebration. I wonder what it could be" D'Jok said as he turned to his father. "You chose this location for a special purpose. This is something big we're celebrating, isn't it?" Corso smiled.

"His observation skills have improved. You're right D'Jok, it's a special celebration this year and the match was planned the following day for good reasons." He said. D'Jok looked at his father, who seemed to have an overview of the entire area.

"Dad, what is this celebration about?" he looked at him with a smile. No need keeping the reason for the celebration a secret.

"Twenty-Five years of fighting for our freedom and the truth. The Pirates insist, celebrating that I have been their leader for Twenty-Five exuse goes to make a party happpen around here" he said.

Corso joined them and placed a brotherly arm around Sonny.

"Sonny is being way too modest and as usual, he downplays his own importance to our organization. Before Sonny, A leader among the Pirates always had to watch his back, even from his own. We were a tank filled with sharks. Back then, even if we had money we did not have answers to what happened to loved ones lost to us or any kind of was still the beast, a beast that caused a lot of sorrow. We needed a hero, and he arrived in the form of a fugitive scientist from Technoid. A scientist that held in his core values the Pirates truly sought. As the scientist in him gave way, one of the brightest stars on the Pirates skies was born. And his name became Sonny Blackbones; the strongest leader we ever had. Just, honest and truthful. The Pirates can never repay Sonny for what he has done for us, but he will always have his home and his family here. Sonny took on investigating cases of lost family, friends, and loved ones that none of us could do, by building a strong team of hackers and his insight to where Technoid would hide sensitive information they didn't want the galaxy to know. We found some of the ones we lost. Very few were reunited with their loved ones, and brought them to safety here on Shiloh. For most of us we got closure and a grave to visit." Corso explained. Sonny nodded before he turned to Corso.

"Corso, you also sought answers to a particular case for a long time, someone you lost, and your comrades fallen in the Flux war. It won't bring them back, but it may help you finally make peace with it. Here!" With that, Sonny handed Corso a memory stick. Then he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Go, take some time to view the content and see if you can come to terms with it. If you need to talk, let me know, I'll meet you at the cabin in Sector Nine." He said. Corso looked at him with shock. The memory stick was in a coded colour, it meant Sonny had finally been able to make good on his promise to him.

"In Shiloh's name, how did you manage to track this information down?It is military graded, special forces" he said. Sonny looked at him.

"We will talk about it later. For now I want you to have a look at the content. That's an order. Now, go, and get this taken care of!" he said, but with a smile. Corso nodded, and gave a military salute.

"Aye Captain!" As Corso left them, Sonny looked at D'Jok.

"Time to show you the place you will be sleeping tonight." He said. D'Jok looked around.

"No hotel?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Sonny smiled as he laid a hand on D'Jok's shoulder and showed him where they were going outside. An old city. Ancient, even.

"This place is in the most ancient part of the Archipelago. It's chosen for the celebration, as there are some major announcements coming." Sonny said.

"Like what? Now you got me curious." D'Jok looked at his father. Sonny seemed to relax in a way he had not seen before.

"All in due time, D'Jok. Let's join your team mates. I believe there is a trip into the center of this rock to a special oasis so you can all have a swim.

* * *

The evening's celebration was huge. Having the same leader for Twenty-Five years was a big thing for the Pirates and they would do this their way. Micro-Ice and Mark were both overwhelmed with all the great food.

"Make sure you don't overeat, we still got a match tomorrow." Tia jokingly reminded them.

"I need to eat, so I have energy for the match tomorrow." Micro-Ice answered and loaded his plate. Artie came to join them along with Bennett.

"Careful with the meat, it's heavy to digest. We usually skip it since we need to be ready to go all the time." He said. Bennett had chosen a plate filled with vegetables. D'Jok looked around.

"Where is Dad and Corso?" He wondered. Bennett smiled.

"Sonny went to see Corso, he gave him some information earlier, and Corso was a bit overwhelmed. Sonny is the only one he will open up to on those things." Artie nodded.

"I saw Corsos hologram on Sonny watch before he took off in a hurry. Looked like Sonny knew Corso would react like this." He added. D'Jok nodded.

"Guess he did. He gave Corso some pretty specific orders earlier when he gave him a memory stick." Bennett and Artie looked at each other. "A memory stick, would that mean..?" Artie started as he looked at his partner. Bennett nodded.

"I believe so Artie. Sonny found the missing pieces of the puzzle. Finally, Corso can start wrapping things up in silence. You know that you and I are up next on that list Bennett? We will finally know, once he finds the answers." Bennett nodded. "This is why we are honoring him tonight. Sonny truly is the hero the pirates needed." D'Jok had questions about this himself, but he decided not to ask. Now was not the time. He ate his food and tried to enjoy the warmth that was here this close to the sun. He could feel there was more to it than whay the pirates said, but this was not his concern. He let go of his trail of thought and invited Mei to dance under the stars.

* * *

Corso swallowed hard as he looked at the images. The reports. How Sonny had come by this information that was under lock and key encryption not even the pirates had managed to crack, he didn't know but it was all here. With this, he could clear his name completely of any wrongdoing in regards to his fallen comrades, have a fresh start if he wanted to. But Corso knew as long as Sonny was still with the Pirates, he would always follow him. Corso had seen Quagmire, the Pirate's oldest storyteller, earlier in the day. He had told a story about Sonny, the heroic deeds he had done. He had put in mistakes too, and over twenty-five years, there was bound to be a lot of those as well. Corso knew Sonny would laugh at many of the small stories and try to play them down. He would be modest that way. But Sonny had worked this in silence. And he had found her. Corso's long lost wife. And her fate. Corso felt his throat thicken as he read on. He heard a knock on the door. Sonny had arrived. Corso let him in and closed the door. The emotions he was going through were raw and he had never felt this vulnerable before. Tears were pressing behind his normal eye. Did Sonny know just how much this meant to him? He watched as Sonny took his cloak off and looked back at him, his warm hazel eyes searching for any tell tellsign to his mental state of mind at this moment. Corso tried to clear his throat.

"Sonny. I have no words. How did you manage to get hold of this information?" Corso's voice sounded ragged, like he had been crying. Sonny suspected he had but he was not going to admit that to anyone, not even him.

"It doesn't matter. What matters to me is your well being. Physical, emotional and mental. You have dealt with this in silence for far too long." He said kindly. Corso shook his head.

"You have gone above and beyond with this Sonny. I just hope it doesn't come at the price of your own safety. I couldn't live with that." Sonny carefully placed his hand on Corso's arm.

"Don't worry. I did nothing to put myself in this time" He said. Corso turned around and pulled Sonny into a tight embrace.

"Thank you Sonny. With this, maybe someday, I will be able to start over. I wish I could have done the same for you." Corso said with voice thick of emotions. Sonny stopped him.

"Hush, that won't be necessary. I got D'Jok, That is more than I ever thought I would have left when I came here." he reminded him. Corso nodded, still leaning his forehead onto Sonny's chest.

"Someday, you will find peace Sonny, I hope I'm still there to see it. I would do anything possible to be present for that." he said. Sonny nodded.

"Is there anything else you need to talk about before we go to the celebration?" He asked.

Corso sighed.

"There's one thing, and it may take some time to wrap your head around it." he said. Sonny raised an eyebrow.

"Now you got me curious. What is it?" He asked, as he had still not broken free from Corso's embrace. Corso looked at him.

"I think you know, Sonny. You have for some time. Sonny, l…" Corso stammered. All of a sudden, it was clear to Sonny. He knew what this was about.

"Are you finally ready to come clear?" Sonny asked. Corso let go of him, slowly.

"Yes and I decided to take action on it." Corso revealed. Sonny smiled.

"Took you long enough." He teased.

"You didn't exactly help. I expected you to push a little more." Corso said with a grin.

"Not a chance, the choice was yours to make, not mine." Sonny said. Both of them laughed after which Sonny's transmitter went off.

"Clamp, is everything ready over at the bonfire?" He asked as he answered it.

"Yes Sonny, we are only missing you and Corso here. So stop hiding and come join the party. This is gong to be some night" Clamp replied.

"We are on our way." Sonny said and ended the call. "Ready Corso? We dont show up, they will send out a search party to look for us" Sonny grinned.

Corso nodded. "Then let's go. I dont care much for search parties, and pirates are better than Technoid at getting the job done. We wont get far until we are found around here, despite the size of the city. And for what I have in mind, I want privacy, not on lookers, even if it is our own people" he said.

Sonny laughed as he put an arm around Corso and led him into the nearby car that would take them back to the party of the night.

* * *

Once Corso and Sonny arrived, the celebration really took off with Quagmire's story. D'Jok could see Sonny burst into laughter several times. Even Corso seemed to enjoy this. Time just seemed to stop here on Shiloh for this night. Finally, Quagmire raised his glass.

"A toast, for the hero who came when he was needed most, The uncrowned king of the Pirates, and a friend to all in need. Let us hear it for Sonny!" The Pirates cheered loudly and raised their glass to Sonny, who sat with Corso and the Snow Kids. Tia also raised her glass.

"The Pirates have helped us Snow Kids in our times of need and not only taught us team play but they also showed us the importance of friendship, loyalty, and honesty. We all have had the fortune of meeting Sonny in person and many of us share friendships with the Pirates off the field as well. I propose a toast, to the lasting friendship and support between our two teams, and may tomorrow's match be a celebration of that friendship no matter who wins." She said and raised her glass.

"Hear, hear." Corso said. D'Jok went a step further.

"A toast, to a man of honor, integrity, and the best Dad anyone could ask for! One does not have to be perfect at what one does, as long as the effort comes from the heart" he said, to loud cheers from the pirates. Sonny knew he would have to say something. He took his glass and stood up.

"I am not going to make a speech, but a toast, For the continued safety of our Galaxy and may the best team win!" he said, to the loudest cheer of the night.

After hours of fun, the Snow Kids started to get tired. Clamp noticed.

"Okay, Snow Kids. Time to go to bed. There's still a friendly match to be played tomorrow and if you're not rested it will be an easy win for the Pirates." He reminded them.

"No way, we're the Snow Kids. Three times Galactik Football champions. They won't beat us." Micro-Ice started. Sonny chuckled.

"We'll see about that Micro Ice. Remember, every team that plays in the Galactik Football Cup, has played you before. Every team knows your strengths and weaknesses. To be too sure of a win can lead to a hard fall." He said. Rocket agreed.

"I hate to say it but Sonny has a very good point. In this cup, we have a few unknown factors at play as well. Former Team Paradisia will play for Technoid, even without the Flux, they were a tough team to beat. Then, we have the unknown Sandmen of Memnor, which we have never played and now that the Pirates will be a Flux team, that will change even them. We are far away from having won the Cup yet. He said. D'Jok agreed too.

"The Snow Kids have been through a lot of changes and we have grown as players but to win, we have to change our strategies as well. This is going to be our toughest Cup to date, and this time, I can not say it's our destiny to win it. This time, it's our destiny to do our best and be happy with our own progress. I got a feeling we may not be the winners this time, but if so, we did it three times already. We got nothing more to prove. We must build the team in a different way." He stated with a smile.

"Wow, D'Jok. Where did this wisdom come from?" Micro-Ice asked as D'Jok blinked at him.

"It's called life lessons. Looks like I'm finally learning." Corso chuckled as he heard that.

"About time, I was worried we were stuck with that ego." He said. Sonny turned away to hide a laugh but not fast enough.

"Dad, some help here?" D'Jok asked. Sonny chuckled.

"I claim neutral ground." He said. This made them all laugh.

* * *

They had all gone to bed but D'Jok couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed as a nightmare was getting deeper. He was wanted, with a price on his head, just like his father and no matter how fast he ran, he could not shake it. In the distance he saw a door, light was coming from it. He ran faster, towards safety, in the light, when a shadow stepped in front of him and blocked the path.

"You are going nowhere D'Jok, it's time you realise what the name Blackbones really brings." D'Jok let out a scream.

"It can't be… Lord Phoenix?"


	5. Chapter 5

D'Jok felt his heart race, as he finally managed to break free from the nightmare. The sweat was dripping off his body, as he tried to calm himself. The images still flashed before his eyes. They made no sense at all. Somethig that looked like tanks, Team Paradisia, laying inside them, large tubes with a green liquid in them. The girls looked as if they were sleeping. And there, with a cane, talking to a creature that seemed to be a shapeshifter, D'Jok could see Lord Phoenix. They looked at one tank that was empty. Then, they turned, and saw him. Had his footsteps ever appeared that threatening, or was this his mind playing tricks on him? D'Jok did not know. All he knew was, the placing of this tank, it looked like it could be Akillian, but he was not sure. He had never seen the place in real life, that much he was sure of. And yet, it seemed so familiar.

D'Jok looked at his hands, they were shaking. Like this, he would not make a good figure at tomorrows friendly match against the pirates. He needed some air. D'Jok got his shoes and his jacket, before he silently went outside the cabin where they were staying, near a small lake, the place they had gone to take a swim upon their arrival. Sonny had told them, this was a very deep pond, one that the pirates used for training purposes to educate their professional divers. As a pirate, you did well to have some skills in pretty much every area there was, that included the most unlikely events. To have to free dive or use diving gear came with the territory. There was also an underground cave system here, that was used to train on how to escape a tight spot. Sonny had shown them the gear the pirates had stored in a nearby station. State of the art pro equipment.

"Should I make a guess as to whom you 'borrowed' it from?" Clamp had asked.

Sonny chuckled.

"Not this time Clamp. This is legally purchased from a professional company, and is always kept in tip top shape. We never know when we may need it. The Black Manta is also equipped with a given number of these things, in case we need it on mission" he explained.

Now, D'Jok sat down, staring at the water. If he was going to loose it, it might as well happen here, where he at least had one relative that could look into matters...

* * *

At the apartment of the two pirates, Corso smiled as he noticed Sonny had fallen asleep on the sofa. His friend had a hard time sleeping as it was, any time it happened naturally, Corso would see to it that he got to sleep in if need be. The match was not until the evening, unless Sonny planned on spending father and son time with D'Jok, Corso would let him sleep. He came to glance at the notepad Sonny had been writing in. When Sonny just spoke without giving any explanation for what he was up to, it was hard to follow him. The notepad had all the relevant information on what was going on with the flux of the pirates, and Sonnys smaller notes as to things he needed to check more closely into. Then, he had the issue of resonance. Sonny had already made the remark that since they knew all football teams would be affected, there was only one team that was in the clear of this phenomenon, Their team, The pirates. Sonny had written a short explanation for what he had seen as being the issue. The pirates had no flux during the paradisian cup, wich should theoretically put them in the clear of the resonance, making them one of the strongest teams in the cup this year. But there was the possibility that Magnus had countered for this,and put some kind of fail safe in place. The to do list had about four points at this time. 1, find out wich team Magnus had decided to use as his accomplices, here Sonny had remarked that surveillance would be needed,2, try to synthesize some of his flux into something that could counter act the resonance, a kind of cure, if possible. Sonny used the results of the test they conducted on Aarch academy as foundation for this idea. They had made a mix with a sample of Sonnys flux in it, for the pirate players, wich had helped clean out the debris of the weaker strains of flux, in turn purifying the seed of shiloh. As of now, all the pirates players with flux, had purified the flux and Sonny had come up with a measure to block any trail from being detected after a match, despite a hard use of the flux. The only thing that seemed to remain for him personally, was to find the balance to not overuse the flux. This was an ongoing battle, but one Corso felt sure Sonny knew how to handle.

He looked over at his long time friend. Sonny seemed so peaceful where he slept. Corso took the blanket that was neatly placed in a chair and placed it around him. He smiled as he did that. Sonny was such a kind hearted person, loveable and honest. They all loved him and protected him as best they could. Here, they were safe. Technoid hardly ever ventured into the shiloh archipelago. They knew this was the pirates territory. To venture in here, was like an open invitation to a raid.

Corso decided to check the computer system before he closed his eyes for a while. All looked silent, and calm, until he noticed a red headed Snow Kid down by the lake. This puzzled Corso. What was D'Jok doing out at this hour and alone. The kid looked lost in thought as he zoomed in. It made Corso smile. He wondered if the kid knew how much alike his father he was. Corso decided to just log it, Sonny could check it in the morning. He was about to close his eyes in the recliner, when he felt a hand to his shoulder.

"Easy, its just me" sounded Sonnys voice, as Corso was trying to calm himself after the shock.

"I thought you were sound asleep. At least, I hoped you would get a few more hours" Corso said.

"I think its time you get some shut eye Corso, I will take care of things here." Sonny said as he sat down.

Corso nodded. No wonder some of the pirates made married couple jokes about them from time to time. They shared a home as well, when not aboard the ship. In some sense, it felt like a marriage between them, minus a few things. As Corso went to his bedroom to sleep, Sonny reviewed the last 6 hours of surveillance of the area where he had located The snow Kids and their staff. What he saw surprised him. D'Jok sitting by the waters edge, just staring out into the dark skies. Sonny frowned. What was wrong? Sonny felt a bit torn. The part of him that acted as a father wanted to storm off, find his son and talk with him, on one side, the chief of the pirates on the other. He knew what D'Jok did not welcome what he called spying, although that was just a word. Sonny felt it was protective measures, and would go a long way to keep an eye on his son, without physically being there. After the tournament on Paradisia, he had pulled back, having a strong feeling, he was to blame for the attack in the Genesis forest, an attack that had shown D'Jok just how dangerous his life could be, maybe it had contributed to D'Joks decision, he did not know, there had not been much time to talk about that, D'Jok seemed to avoid the subject, and Sonny did not push, as Lord Phoenix, now Magnus Blade, really had nothing to do with his son, it was clearly a coincidence he had chosen D'Jok to captain his team. Or did he know more than he let on.

Sonny made himself a mental memo,to pull D'Jok to the side after the match and ask him. It was still the off season, so if need be, he would ask if D'Jok cold stay behind for a few days, so he could get to talk to him. With that thought, Sonny noticed the cold had made D'Jok return to the cabin.

Good. Sonny walked to the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea. To make sure, he took his sleeping device with him to the bedroom that was his. He did not sleep here much, so it looked close to new, but once they were here, he felt safe to sleep in. Sonny checked the time as he made himself ready for bed. Then he set his device for 6 hours, to apeace Corso. Moments later, he was sound asleep...

* * *

Callie Mystic had arrived by a special shuttle and been guided to the press box to cover the friendly match between the champions and The pirates. The odds were in favour of The Snow kids, according to all experts opinions, but The Snow Kids knew this would not be an easy match to win. The pirates had kept it secret, but now, they would play with an unknown flux, one the galaxy had yet not seen. And the snow kids knew that the pirates had trained in secret for a few months, who could know what kind of tricks they had up their sleeve now? The Snow kids walked on to the pitch, that was easy to escape, it had to be when you were a pirate that defied the mighty Technoid. And D'Jok did not know wheter his father would be on the pitch or in the stands. All he knew was, his father would be present somehow. There, the pirates entered from their side. It was their regular line up. Tia greeted Stevens on the pitch, before she made room for D'Jok to face Stevens for kick off...

* * *

Corso had a full overview from the pirates hidden coach s pod. Sonny stood beside him, observing the game. Corso had not failed to notice that Sonny was dressed in the pirates uniform today, and had the headgear under his arm, a sign he would at some point replace one of the players on the pitch. It would be ok today, they had home pitch advantage, and this was a friendly match, a practice run for both teams. Sonny seemed lost in thoughts as he studied the pitch, or more spesifically, his son. He had been like that all day. Corso knew he tried to figure out what was making his son sit up at night.

"I wonder what made him sit up like he did last night" Sonny said.

"If you ask me, it looks like girlfriend trouble" Corso commented dryly, as he focused on a few adjustments to be made on the panel.

Sonny still seemed thoughtful.

"There is still hope that they can fix things. But it will require some work on both sides to make it happen." he concluded.

Corso looked at him with a smirk.

"Want to tell me what you have seen? Last thing I heard, Mei was Sinedds girlfriend now" Corso reminded him.

Sonny nodded.

"I doubt it is going to last. They are too alike, and Sinedd is too preoccupied with his little they both can settle their differences, maybe they stand a chance" Corso concluded.

Sonny nodded, but his mind was clearly miles away. It did not go unnoticed.

"Sonny, you are his father, but I believe the kids needs to work through this one on their own" Corso said.

Sonny nodded.

"I will observe during the first half, if he is in any way playing less than his hardest, I will replace Stevens in the second half, to shake things up a bit. But there is something weighing heavy on his mind Corso, you can tell. I intend to talk to him before they head back, to see if I can figure out what. Somehow, girlfriend trouble strikes me as too easy, it is something else bothering him" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"Lets focus on the match. I think we will see quite a show"...

* * *

On the pitch, it was a very even matched two teams that battled it out. The pirates had started off easy, focused on team play. When The Snow Kids started to take more posession of the ball in their strategy, The Pirates switched mode. One that astounded the very surprised Callie Mystic.

"I cant believe it..but it seems..The Pirates is no longer a team without flux. Either that, or they got a new invention that mimics flux. Barry, maybe you could explain to the holo viewers what you are seeing?" Callie asked.

But to no avail. Barry was speechless,and had no explanation to offer the holo viewers for what they saw. On Akillian, the parents of The Snow Kids was watching the match. Maya looked at the images, with a slight worry. This was no fluke. She had known for a while, because D'Jok had told her. He had his concerns about this flux. Not the fact that the pirates had it, he trusted his father had the knowledge to protect his team and the right contacts to get help. They had some good contracts with the league and also the flux society. But the flux was traceable, and that worried him. He loved his father dearly, after the break up with Mei, this was the only solid constant in his life. An absent father yes, but not because he wanted it that way. Maya knew, even without having met Sonny himself, but his closest friends, and Corso, that Sonny had a great heart and a lot of love for his son, it things would permit it, Sonny would do whatever it took to meet with his son and be there for him in the hour of need. For D'Jok, things would get rough now, with the media attention that would soon shine on to things. It was unavoidable. Maya decided to notify Clamp on the matter, to see if the pirates could possibly help avert at least part of it. All of a sudden, an intense vision struck. The galactik kids, infected with something, she could not tell what, causing a dangerous situation. She could see the pirates getting involved, since this was flux related and Sonny was counted as one of the most experienced scientists in this field. Clamp too. But now, she knew there would be no going back into hiding for the pirates. They had a flux of their own, and they used it on the pitch, catching everyone off guard. Ahito did his best to block the shots, he managed to block a few, but not the one from the right, that was unstoppable, even to an ace goalie like him.

D'Jok tried to get in the game, but he seemed preoccupied. Mana Ice noticed.

"Wow I did not know the pirates was a flux team" she said.

Maya nodded.

"They are a team of many secrets. And right now, it seems they may have hid this for some time. I wonder why they only show this now, it could certainly have helped them advance in the cup earlier" she said.

Mana Ice looked thoughtful.

"I am sure they have their reasons, but it is strange that they hid this for so long"...

* * *

At half time, The snow Kids were down 2 to 1. Rocket looked at them all.

"We have to change strategy to beat them. The Pirates play an excellent team play, we have to break that team play if we are to stand a chance at winning. I want all to focus on using the breath to make high passes, we need to get the control of the game or we will be the loosing team today" he said.

The Snow Kids nodded. This used to be an easy team to beat, but not now. This team surprised them. And they tried to prepare for the next half...

"What will happen is that we will surprise them by making an unanticipated swap. Stevens, your ancle has been hurting during practice lately. So for the second half, I will take your spot. Lets see if The Snow Kids can handle that" Sonny smirked as he put on the headgear.

As soon as the signal for return to the pitch was given, Corso shook his head. D'Jok was not going to be prepared for this. Maybe The Pirate for once could celebrate a home pitch win...

* * *

The teams entered the pitch again. And as they lined up for kick off, D'Jok noticed it was not Stevens he lined up against. The man was the same size and build but it was not Stevens. He was somehow familiar. Darn those masks. They hid his true identity. Then, he noticed something on the mans wrist.

The Bracelet! D'Jok could not hide the surprise. Sonny was on the pitch, in a pirates uniform, disguised beyond recognition. And he had not played the first half. What could have happened to Stevens? But there was no time to think.

Sonny led the pirates straight into an attack that cut through the snow kids defence line like a knife through hot butter, and scored. D'Jok started to realise they would possibly loose this match. For him personally it did not matter all that much. He had started to take his life in a different direction after three consecutive wins in a row, but for the snow kids, there were still players that felt they had something to prove to the galaxy and themselves. He would try to win this for them, not for himself...

"It is the last minutes of the match and it seems the snow kids are facing a crushing defeat today, and what a surprise the pirates has sprung on us all. They actually have a flux, and they play very well with it" Callie reported to her viewers.

"That must surely make the pirates team coach, wich from our information from the league, is none other than the pirates infamous leader Sonny Blackbones, very happy with his teams efforts today" said Barry Randt.

Callie was more focused on the loosing team.

"It seems the snow kids has learned to handle defeat like true champions. It is clear to see that they are on friendly terms with the pirates. I will see if I can get an interview with the team captain of both teams. As we can see, the pirates exchanged Stevens in the last half. It is known that he has had a small ancle injury, and it is believed that coach Sonny did not want him to over do it. But who was the mysterious player that replaced Stevens, the player that assisted in two goals? In my notes, he is listed only as player x, no further information available" Callie informed.

"Well,you know the pirates and their secrets. I guess we will learn more later on in the cup" Noork said...

* * *

It had to happen. A team with a new and unknown flux, a flux they knew little to nothing about how worked, had defeated them. In earlier cups or even friendly matches, this would have upset the snow kids, and brought out the ego and urge to win at all cost. But it was plain to see, even for Rocket as the team coach, the snow kids did not feel bad about loosing to the pirates.

"We were also a surprise in all this once, why not them? I hardly know any other team that I would like to see more advance to the very end than the pirates." Micro Ice blurted out, drying his hair coming out of the shower.

"True, they are awesome players. Now that they have flux, I am having a real hard time to keep up with them" Ahito admitted.

D'Jok was silent for his usual self. He remembered the nightmare and was wondering how he could approach his dad about it. Something told him something was off about it, but he could not put his finger on what. As Tia went to talk with Callie, D'Jok packed his bag.

"I would like to talk to dad before we leave, if that is ok with you all?" he asked.

Rocket nodded.

"Sure thing D'Jok, make sure to congratulate him on his teams win. They played an outstanding match today. They will be tough to beat in the cup" he said.

D'Jok nodded, and took his bag as he went to find the pirates locker room...

* * *

Sonny had made a swift change of clothes and taken a quick shower after the match. He had to see D'Jok. But to approach the snow kids locker room, where Callie Mystic and her robot cams were to be found, was not the right setting. He was not ready to reveal to the reporter who his son was or any of that matter. If he was to protect D'Jok, the family link between him and D'Jok needed to remain a secret for now. Sonny had used some of the hidden alleys in the stadium to get around. Now if only he could find D'Jok... There. Good, he was alone. Sonny checked wich sector. This should be quick to pull him into one of the hidden alleyways. Sonny hurried to the area he knew D'Jok could be found, and pulled him inside.

"Dad, I was looking for you" D'Jok said as he hugged his father.

Sonny smiled.

"Good match out there. But I sense you are worried son. I saw you on the security cameras last night, by the water. From your expression, it wasnt too hard to tell you have something on your mind. So, want to tell me what it is?" Sonny smiled.

D'Jok sighed.

"That is the thing Dad. You see..I am having some strange nightmares. They started after the paradisian cup. Small at first, not really much to talk about, but as time progressed, they got worse. I am not sure..it could resemble fake memories, for lack of a better way to explain it.." D'Jok explained.

Sonny frowned as he heard that. What D'Jok was experiencing did not sound like ordinary nightmares, or even any warnings. Sonny had studied this phenomenon more closely after this turned out to be an abillity he had as a pirate, to understand what he was dealing with. For it to be fake memories, that meant other means had to have been put in place.

Sonny decided to let Clamp know, D'Jok would stay behind when they left for Akillian again. This was a delicate matter for him and Corso to work together on solving.

"Listen D'Jok. I think we need to check this deeply. I know you know of whom Lord Phoenix truly is now,I told you. But what I got a feeling of, is that he may have used his old trick here, to trick you into doing something against your will. I dont know what that may be yet, but these nightmares you describe could be a part of it. So what is going to happen is this. When your team heads back, you will stay here for a few days, we will see if we can get a deeper insight into what this is. It could be nothing and it could reveal something about Magnus plan. I know you are one of the strongest players on your team, wich is why it surprised me that you were not one of the abducted ones. Unless off course, he knew the connection between the two of us" Sonny said while rubbing his chin.

D'Jok looked down as he heard that.

"I told him Dad, he knows that Im your son" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"That explains why he did not go for you. He did not want to piss me off. And had he laid hands on you, I can assure you, I would be mad by now" Sonny said.

D'Jok nodded.

"Lets talk about this after the team and Callie has left. I would prefer she dont know anything about it" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"I will inform Clamp"...

* * *

D'Jok watched the snow kids shuttle head off for Akillian with Callie mystic on board. As soon as the shuttle had taken off, Corso and Sonny led him to a car, and they drove off. D'Jok was amazed to notice a hidden city inside what looked like a barren rock. The pirates sure clung to their secrets. Before long, they reached a small condo apartment, where Sonny used a palm print to gain access to the place where he shared with Corso. Somehow, this did not surprise D'Jok. Corso had seemed to be very close with his father from the first time he had met him. The two of them sharing apartment came as no surprise.

"It is not secret that Corso and I live in the same apartment D'Jok, it just makes it easier for both of us" Sonny said as he saw the question in D'Joks eyes.

"Your father and I are the most sought after men in the galaxy today, so it makes sense that we watch each others back, quite literally" Corso commented.

"So what are you charged of doing?"D'Jok asked.

Corso sighed.

"Several things we can now prove him innocent of, lets leave it at that. The less you know, the better" Sonny said.

D'Jok only nodded, as Sonny programmed the door to accept his palm print as well.

He entered a very manly apartment, clearly two bachelors lived here. But they knew how to keep things tidy.

D'Jok took the bottle of water that Sonny handed him, without question. Sonny nodded to Corso, whom pulled out a machine from inside a desk. Corso turned on the laptop connected to it, before Sonny attached a headband to D'Joks head. As soon as the system was all go and D'Jok had emptied the bottle, D'Jok realised Sonny had deliberately given him that water bottle. It had been mixed with something, but he did not feel in danger.

Corso nodded to Sonny, he was ready to go.

Sonny pulled a chair up and took hold of D'Joks hands.

"D'Jok, what you just drank, is a chemical that will help you hold memories longer, at the same time, Corso will read your brain wave pattern. This will reveal wheter what you think you saw was real or a planted memory. Both Corso and I are well familiarized with Magnus many ways of manipulation. We will figure out if he had anything at all to do with this nightmare you are experiencing. So now, in as much detail as possible, describe the nightmare to Corso and me"...


	6. Chapter 6

D'Jok swallowed hard, as he began to tell of his nightmare. Sonny had asked him to be as detailed as he could, the more details he could remember,the more markers they had to work out what this was.

"I am not sure where, but I think this is on Akillian somewhere" said D'Jok as he started to go into it all.

"I have never met Lord Phoenix there,but it is looking distinctly like the Akillian mountains,the ones with the most snow, like Mount Tustra" he said.

Sonny nodded, now they had a sort of starting point.

"I see myself walking, the snow feel heavy round my feets,and I wear goggles against snow blindness. I don't seem to have a means of transportation, so I am on foot."D'Jok explained.

"Can you get a sense of direction, for where you are headed?"

Sonny asked, looking at Corso to see if any irregularities had shown so far.

Corso shook his head.

"All normal so far." he said

"I am not getting a clear direction to where I am I am headed towards the old city of Arcadia from what I can see"D'Jok informed as he went deeper into the hypnotic process.

Corso looked at Sonny.

"These details he puts forth are crystal clear Sonny. They should not be this clear, unless it had been assisted somehow. Did you give him something?"

Corso looked at Sonny for nodded it.

"He was stressed out Corso, the only way to calm him down, was EZ2233, without it, the things we are looking for would have been blocked from coming to him" said Sonny.

Corso nodded.

"Hey, I am the second in command, and a hacker, tactical weapon specialist and training instructor. And field medic.I am not part of the staff in the lab, that creates the things we rely on. that is your department"he pointed out. Sonny nodded it with a smile.

"How are you feeling D'Jok?" He asked, looking at his son. It was crucial that he was calm for the information to come out right.

"Calm, I am able to see the images of the dream clearly" D'Jok responded.

"But how did you manage to make this happen Dad?" D'Jok looked at him.

Sonny took another capsule of the same he had mixed in D'Jok's water.

"With this one D'Jok. It is one of our latest inventions. It affects you so that you can hold down the memories from your subconscious better,it is not long lasting,but we are recording everything you say,so we can go through it later. It also helps calm you down, as it alleviates anxiety" Sonny calmly explained.

D'Jok nodded.

He had full trust that Sonny would never hurt him. Now, more details started coming up.

"I see a cave, it has a three in it,the three has leaves on top,but it looks like it is made of snow somehow." he said.

"Could this be your home at Akillian D'Jok?"

Sonny looked at him, he was starting to get a feeling already of what they were dealing with.

"No, it is not my home, this three seems to be growing in a shed or something, it looks deserted around it" said D'Jok.

Sonny nodded.

"I am walking forwards,towards a red door,it looks like an entrance to a facility of some kind, and the door is opening in front of me.  
It is like a very bright light,almost like Clamps holo trainer.."

D'Jok looked spooked all of a sudden.

"Dad.."

his voice was shaking slightly.

Sonny knew he could not interrupt the process. "Corso, what's happening to him?"

Corso looked at the screen.

"It is a supressed memory Sonny, or should I say, it looks like it has been erased, and now is making it's way back" Corso sounded shocked.

Sonny's eyes widened in shock when he realised what had happened.

"Thats no good..he erased D'Jok's memory of something. That means D'Jok must have seen or heard something that was not in Magnus favour, something that could have caused problems for him down the line. Corso,can we bring it back?" he asked.

Corso punched a few digits.

"I will try Sonny, but no guarantees. Since we are in his mind, we need to proceed with caution. Any mistakes here, and it could make matters worse than it is" Corso said, waiting for Sonny to make a judgement call to either end the process or continue it.

"Why am I dressed in team paradisias uniform Dad? I'm not on the team any more" D'Joks voice was now sounding very insecure,like he hesitated to move forwards. Sonny felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest with something hard. His worst nightmares was anyone doing anything to hurt D'Jok,and him being powerless to stop it.

"D'Jok, try to stay focused, do you see anything else around you?"

Sonny had taken D'Jok's hands in his,and was trying to make him speak as many details as possible.

"Team Paradisia,All of them,they are in some kind of containers,and there are huge cables, with some kind of greenish fluid flowing into them.

Dad, I have seen this before,the meta flux that you and Clamp made,but this is a different colour.

I also see Lord Phoenix,and his rod is glowing,the entire room is growing red" he said, voice visibly shaking now.

Sonny and Corso looked at each other.

"He hypnotised D'Jok over something, and erased the memory at the same time Sonny. That could be dangerous" said Corso, even his tone of voice sounded worried now. Sonny held on to D'Jok's hands.

"What else do you see D'Jok,tell me!"he commanded.

D'Jok started to shake.

"There is someone with him,I can't tell what it is,it looks like a snake of some kind... She looks dangerous, and with big fangs.."

D'Jok piped out.

"VEGA!"Sonny yelled the name.

He remembered the snake like creature, and how she had poisoned him, with a poison that left him literally no time to seek help.

It could easily have ended in tragedy, if Magnus had not intervened.

Well, so had Duke Maddox once, and that had been revoked at first chance. D'Jok was showing the early signs of stress, with tiny drops of sweat on his forehead.

"They..they're coming towards me dad...it looks like they want to put me in a container too, and attach some kind of tube to my body,it has this green fluid" D'Jok said.

As Sonny looked at his son, he could see the pupils dilate, a clear sign this was frightening his son.

"The multi flux!" gasped Corso, who had realised what it was D'Jok was seeing.

D'Jok was starting to break into sweats all over, and he started shaking slightly.

"Lord Phoenix is speaking to me Dad,he looks mad.I never did anything to him, why is he doing this?"

D'Jok looked anxious now, they could not keep doing this for too long.

But he had to try to get some more information, no matter how much it hurt. Even if he had to hurt his own son.

"What is he saying D'Jok?" Sonny was growing increasingly worried.

He could see tears in D'Jok's eyes.

"Now you will see what the name Blackbones really stands for. AAAAAAhhhh, Heeeelp!"

D'Jok yelled in panic as Corso looked at his data.

"Sonny, make him snap out of it. I got all the data we need to figure this. We push this, we may hurt him" Corso nodded. "D'Jok,follow my voice back out of and easy,I got you, you are can't hurt you. Come,I'll take you to a safe place."

As Sonny spoke,Corso monitored the gauges that read D'Jok.

D'Jok calmed at the sound of Sonny's voice, as Sonny continued to talk to him in a calm, soft voice, gently, but firmly, leading D'Jok back to the safety of their reality.

As soon as he was calm,Sonny held him in a tight embrace,Corso could see his friends hazels over D'Joks shoulder.

When Sonny got his hands on Magnus over this, Corso was glad he was not in Magnus shoes. It would not be pretty.

"No worries D'Jok. It is are safe here."Sonny continued to hold D'Jok in a calm embrace, as Corso signaled to him how D'Joks heartbeats slowly calmed down to a relaxed state again.

D'Jok had a sinus rythm that told Corso that he had fallen asleep.

Sonny carefully lifted him into his arms and walked towards his room.

"While he sleeps though the sedative effect, we will analyse the data,see if there is any additional question we need to ask", he said to Corso.

Corso nodded.

"I get this is hard to do Sonny,and I get you are angry with Magnus over this, but we need to get to the bottom of this matter, the reason why he did this, and more so, why did he not tell us when we worked together." Corso said.

Sonny nodded. "Did he not say he knew I had a son?" He asked.

Corso nodded.

" Right before he stole The Black Manta yeah. What are you getting at Sonny? "He asked.

Sonny rubbed his chin. "There are two possibilities here Corso.D'Jok told him we are father and ,he did this to get back at me, or he has some kind of grudge against D'Jok directly. We need to find out wich one it is, after that, I dont know yet, but I will find answers" Sonny mused.

"Why would D'Jok do something like that Sonny?To my knowledge, your son loves you more than anything in this galaxy, you really think he would tell Magnus of that connection?"Corso asked.

Sonny nodded. "He did Corso. After I got poisoned. He said it in anger, to let Magnus know he knew what had happened and that you suspected him.

Something happened during the time I was at Dame Simbais clinic with the poison causing through my body. You did say you informed D'Jok about what had happened?" He asked.

Corso noddded.

"Given the severity of the situation, we did not have much other choise. Sonny, it was bad enough that we did not know if you would pull through.

We had to tell D'Jok as he is your only living relative as far as we know."

Sonny nodded slowly. "

I will ask him when he comes to,If I am right, D'Jok may have acted in anger, and possibly made threats to quit Team Paradisia. And we both know how Magnus responds to threats."

Corso nodded. "I would not advice going that route, not with him.

Best choise is to lay low and wait till the storm calms, says my years of experience with him."

Sonny nodded. He looked down on his had laid D'Jok down on bed,but he couldn't help but smile.

This was what he should have been doing when D'Jok was a toddler,but since the chance of that was snatched from him,he made the most of it now.

Corso looked at the scene, with a small smile on his face.

"Any hard feelings about the times you missed doing this Sonny?" he asked. Sonny smiled.

"No, I can't change the past Corso,I can only try to build a better future."

Corso nodded.

"He is becoming a fine young man,and he has calmed his ways,now that the contact between the two of you has been rescue mission was of help to you. To be thrown into fatherhood when the kid is already a teen, it comes with a set of challenges. And I got to tell you Sonny, you took on the challenge head on when the truth was revealed to you. Never doubt that you are a good father. Maybe you cant do everything that a normal father can with his son, but that is some of the charm for you and D'Jok. He has a father, that he is not afraid to express that he is proud of , and who means a lot to him. He accepted you Sonny, where many others could have turned their back, or even worse. Suppose he would have turned you in. Point is Sonny, maybe your wife is gone, but she left you D'Jok, and being the situation is the way it is,You are doing an excellent job in that role" said Corso with a smile.

Sonny nodded with a smile.

"You're right Corso.I try not to loose sight of the bigger picture now,we need to access the damage that Magnus may have caused him"

Sonny turned his back on Corso,clenching his fists.

"Corso,if he has caused D'Jok any harm,I'm going after him personally."

Corso looked at Sonny.

"First,let's make sure he actually is guilty of what we accuse him of you are going to go against Magnus Sonny,you have to be still don't know why he wanted us to meddle in his affairs on paradisia. And also,we don't know wheter he is innocent in the poisoning of you either. But I can't shake the feeling,now that he is a pirate again,he may still harbour resentment against you.I am worried you may be in danger from him. He could have done this,to provoke you into an attack. When you were younger,that is exactly what you would have done. But over the years, you grew into the role, because you had reliable and loyal men surrounding you and giving you sound advice. You were always a good listener, and that led to you staying safe many times, when acting out would have landed your hide in hot water. Lord knows we have had enough leaders like that in the past,I know you would not go that way. But Sonny,this time, don't do as you did on Paradisia. If you are going after him, talk to me first. Last time you failed to inform me,It nearly ended in you dying,and we can not afford to loose you. Not least, before you act,tell me,so I can be prepared to help if need be."Corso asked.

Sonny nodded slowly.

"You're right Corso,I should have told you." he said.

Corso placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It is water under the bridge Sonny,we made it and we are both still here." he reminded him. Sonny nodded.

He looked at the door to his room,where D'Jok was resting.

"We better look at the scans,and the information we gathered Corso. Something tells me,this is not just a erased memory. It goes beyond that" He mused.

Corso rubbed his chin.

"Sonny,if Magnus used his cane, like he did in the past,remember Coral,the female pirate that wanted out?Magnus could have developed his technique further, and to what consequenses we dont yet know." Corso was thinking out loud.

Sonny nodded, he remembered the story well.

"He tried to erase her memory of where the lair was, and ended up causing serious my knowledge, Coral is still in a home where she is receiving care right?" He asked Corso, who confirmed it.

"She was placed in a home, to be cared for after incident. Magnus did not admit to any wrong doings, but you and I both know he had something to do with the reason why she is there now."Corso said.

"I even heard speakings that some Pirates said he was not able to control the power in the cane and that several pirates was affected. No evidence that we could find off course, I believe we were mislead in this case. But I dont get why." Corso said.

Sonny nodded.

"And if so, this may have been done to D'Jok as well."

Sonny sighed, as he put his hands on the wall.

"We don't know the effects here Corso,and the cup matches are coming up.I don't know what is the best course of action there is any chance of a relapse..he sighed."

Corso could feel his friends pain.

"Sonny,you're his father. He will listen to you. And as a safety measure,talk to Dame Simbai,see what kind of care can be provided. This way you will have an idea what is going on with him, and also making sure he is safe. For as long as we remain wanted men, there are clear limitations to what you can do Sonny, cause none of your men is going to allow for you to be arrested by Technoid. We will protect you Sonny, until the bitter end if so comes to none of the ones acting as pirates today, will turn you in or reveal where you can be found. You are too valuable to us and our cause, and money is not a reason to turn on a brother. Maybe it could help, but the only way it would happen, would have been if an agreement had been negotiated so you could spend time with D'Jok,and we all know that Technoid can't be trusted to uphold it," Corso said thoughtfully.

Sonny nodded.

"For now Corso,I can't send D'Jok back to Akillian.I don't know the full level of damage this has caused him and until I do, he has to stay here with us, in other ships to go with the Technoid convoys for now. The Black Manta remains docked as we will work with D'Jok," Sonny stated.

Corso smiled. If he did not know better, he would have thought this was Sonny making an excuse to spend more time with his son, in a safe enviroment.

But unfortunately, D'Jok needed to stay in Shiloh till they had an idea of what was going on. Father and son time became a bonus, at best.

"We need to observe him over time,but he also needs to train," said Sonny.

Corso nodded. "But lets not push him too could cause side effects that could mess with his health. As long as it is just trainings,how about letting him train with the Pirates? We are also a flux team now, and D'Jok can train with them for now." Corso reminded him.

Sonny nodded. Corso had a point. "And this way, D'Jok could also focus on team play, and improving pirates would be good for him in that regard.

For now, that is the best solution Corso. Tell Bennett that D'Jok will be training with them until further notice, and make team play a thing to work on.

The snow kids will have to do without D'Jok for now. I can't risk anything happening to my only son." he said.

Corso smiled as he placed a hand on Sonny's shoulder.

"Now,that is the Dad speaking.D'Jok will be fine Sonny. And in the mean time, we will figure out what happened, and how to reverse the effect.

We will solve this Sonny,I don't know how,but we will figure it out." Corso assured him.

Sonny nodded, as he felt Corsos hand on his shoulder."Thanks Corso, I am happy I got you around to help me sort through my thoughts when it is needed." Corso smiled. "Any time Sonny, that is why I am your right hand." he said. Sonny smiled.

"Let's go through the data Corso,we may learn something there..."

* * *

Magnus was looking at the re run of the friendly match between The snow kids and The pirates on Shiloh.

The Seed of Shiloh had somehow been filtered,no doubt Sonny's handy work, and now appeared in it's original form.

Magnus grinned when he saw the second half and Player X making an appearance. "So,he made the decision to play on camera for once.

The masking is not enough to hide who he really is. And he has a certain level of aggression in his playing style." Magnus grinned.

This would have his flux develop to a higher level faster. And even with an inhibitor, this would allow for Sonny to be tracked.

If not by Technoid, then by the Flux Society. If he played his cards right, Sonny would have to be on a constant move to stay undetected.

He studied the film. Sonny had not held back,and played a good match now that he used his flux, wich had thrown the snow kids of guard.

And since the entire team had flux, it made them more equal to their oponents. Magnus grinned when he looked at it.

"Anyone that can obtain the old Technoid science teams footballers video files, will recognize him as I'Son, the defensive right back. And Sonny has made no attempt at hiding who he really is. He really made no efforts to hide the fact that he took a pirate name, and declared them his enemy back in the day. It didn't take Technoid long to identify him under his new name when he joined us, either."

Magnus thought. There was several times he could have let Technoid have what they wanted, all he would have had to do, was to tell them where they could find the fugitive scientist.

But that would have caused a riot within his own ranks.

And Sonny had proved himself useful,so he had made the call to let him stay. There was times he had regretted that decision.

Especially, considering the fact that the pirates went behind his back, and chose Sonny as a new leader, he had not been happy with the decision the pirates made, and refused to step down.

He could still recall Sonnys voice.

"Then you leave me no choice Magnus, I challenge you to a duel for the title. Whoever looses, will leave the pirates in exile."

Magnus remembered how he had accepted Sonnys challenge, and the luck he had with blinding his eye. He had left his mask, as a token for Sonny to find, that he was now the leader of the pirates, as he silently exited the ship and took of for a destination unknown.

"I wonder what his plan is now," mused the pirate.

Then,he paid attention to D'Jok, his former team captain.

"So far,he is not showing any sign that the erased memory was not done properly." His second in command came with a report.

"If the memory erasing is not done properly,D'Jok will have big problems telling what is reality apart from dream state, if the memory tries to return, he may remember what you did when you erased his memory of certain things." he said.

Magnus nodded.

"If so,Sonny will eventually find out,and no matter how calm and collected he is now,anyone hurting his son,may face a furious Sonny Blackbones."

His second in command looked at him.

"Are you going to punish Sonny for the past this way?Sonny is dangerous when he is calm, but he is even more dangerous when he is angered. I am not ure that is a wise move" he said.

Magnus shook his head.

"I got a plan for that. Sonny will not be able to counter this, as he will not see it coming.."

* * *

Rocket, Dame Simbai and Clamp was on the secure stealth mode five frequenzy with Sonny, who updated them on D'Jok's situation.

"We are working on finding a way to safely reverse the effects of this,but for now,D'Jok needs to stay here in Shiloh."Sonny explained. It was not the news he had hoped to bring, but the sad state of affairs for now.

Rocket looked at him.

"Sinedd can take his place until further notice,do you think D'Jok will be ready before the qualifying rounds Sonny?" He asked, sounding hopeful.

Sonny sighed.

"I really can't say for sure Rocket. We still have some time.D'Jok will be able to train with the pirates to stay in shape.I would send him back if I felt this was safe,but last time Magnus did this, it ended badly for the victim. We are aware of the damages it caused an innocent pirate that just wanted a peaceful life, safe from harm. A very few pirates knows of this,mainly those that was the second in command under Magnus, wich includes Corso and me. We have looked into matters. And I got my best men working on making something that will reverse the effect of this treatment. But sadly, I cant tell when it will be ready" he sighed.

Clamp looked at him.

"Can one of your memory erasers help the matter Sonny? And if need be, do you have access to a laboratory where you could look into matters personally? I know your handiwork Sonny, if you have the right tools, you have the knowledge to fix this. If nothing else, come here to Akillian, and work on it here" he suggested sounding very eager. But Sonny shook his head.

" No Clamp, it is a one way process. There was never any need for a reversal before. Wich is why my best technicians are working to find a solution now. As for me coming to Akillian to work on it, there is an increased Technoid presence there as of late. It would be a considerable risk Clamp, not just for me, but you as well. I get caught in your lab, you become an accomplice, and jail time awaits even you "Sonny reminded his friend.

Sonny heard a sound, and turned, to see D'Jok enter the living room. Sonny couldn't keep himself from smiling when he saw his son."What is going on Dad?" he asked slightly confused.

Sonny notioned for him to take a seat next to him.D'Jok smiled when he saw Rocket.

"Rocket,good to see you man." he exclaimed as he saw his coach."Same D'Jok,how about you?"Rocket asked.

D'Jok looked at him.

"I understand that what I thought was a nightmare turned out to be something very different. But I am safe. And Dad won't let me out of his sight,I almost feel like I'm a little kid" he commented dryly.

Rocket smiled at that. "Then he acts just like my father would D'Jok. And as strange as it sounds,it is an act of love,we will probably act the same way the day we have kids." he said.

D'Jok made a face that made them all laugh.

"That won't be for a while yet. You got Tia Rocket,I would still have to meet a girl that I'd want a family with first. Although,it will be tough to find someone that compares with Mei." he said.

D'Jok could have bit his tongue as he said that,but it was out of the bag now. He still loved Mei,but she had chosen Sinedd. He had to admit,it was hard to watch the two of them together, so he stayed to himself now, to avoid the pain.

Clamp and Sonny exchanged glances through the screen.D'Jok's confession had been unexpected. Sonny decided that he would need to have a talk with D'Jok about the matter.

D'Jok and Rocket chatted some more,trying to come up with a few things for him to practice on. Then, they ended the Transmission. Sonny looked at his son.

"D'Jok,I don't mean to pry,but it sounds to me, you would like to make up with Mei,but we have the same issue as you had in Genesis forrest not feeling good also, you fear a possible rejection, am I right? "He asked, looking at his son. D'Jok nodded.

"You are right Dad, I acted selfishly, I admit that, and I am a bit of a hot head at times, Mei was right when she told me all that matters to me, is Win, win, win. It was..but...it is not like that any more". He explained, looking defeated, and more like a young boy than ever.

Sonny nodded slowly as his son spoke.

"That is true son, this is how you have portrayed yourself, to me, the pirates and everyone else in the galaxy. I heard from Clamp about your apology to Ahito. It is a start, but it needs be worked on. The most important thing, is that you are able to see it ,I may not be able to be around as much as I would like to, but know, if you want to talk it out,I am here to listen, and if not me,then you got Corso." he smiled carefully.

D'Jok nodded and tried to hide the tears.

"Thanks Dad,and means a lot to me. If you don't mind,I think I'd like to take a walk, to clear my I am going to make things right, I need to get clear with myself on what I want to achieve and how to go about it." he said.

Sonny nodded.

"Off course D'Jok. You are perfectly safe here. Shiloh is a protected place, where you are more likely to run into friends rather than enemies. But just the same.."

Sonny pulled out a drawer from under the coffe table in the living room, and pulled out a device.

D'Jok looked puzzled. "What is that thing Dad, I have never seen any of those before," he said.

"This is a panic button D'Jok. Should you get lost, and it does happen to those not known here, press the button. Corso or I will come pick you up." he said with a smile.

Sonny remained calm, although he found his son being this meek quite amusing, gone was the hot head, and egocentric. And replaced by a young man that was a lot easier to guide.

D'Jok nodded, as Sonny strapped the panic button on to his wrist.

He gave a small wave to the two pirates, as he left for his walk...

* * *

On Akillian, Mei was sitting outside the Academy. Sinedd was doing extra training sessions.

As much as she loved having him back on the snow kids team,D'Jok was still on her mind a lot.

If only he could have changed,like the rest of them,and realised there was more to life than just winning. And this need to know where she was all the time.

Had she judged him too harshly?Mei had to admit to herself,if she was to be honest,she had.

She was not exactly an easy person to deal with herself,with her high ambitions,and perhaps it was true that she was a bit shallow and self centered.D'Jok was not the only one to fault for the break up.

Then, she thought of was different than D'Jok. But also,the sighed.

She missed D'Jok,as a friend, and also boyfriend.

To be team mates was all good and well,but she missed the closeness with him. To be honest,she even missed Corso pestering her for information on D'Jok to help the pirate leader,Sonny Blackbones,be up to speed on his son.

Mei sighed. No matter how she tried to see it,Sinedd was a good guy,but D'Jok was her true love.

How they could fix the problem, she did not know, but she had to try.

"I hope you come back soon D'Jok,I got something to speak to you about."

Then, an idea came to her mind. She was not sure at all if it would work, but just maybe it was her time to ask the Pirates for some help.

Mei got up and looked at her transmitter.

A quick search, and she found Corsos number. The pirates hologram revealed surprise as he picked up.

"Mei, I must admit, I did not expect to hear from you," he said.

Mei smiled Shyly.

"I did not expect to make this call either Corso, but..I think I am the one in the need of the pirates help this time," she said.

Corso looked surprised.

"May I ask with what Mei? and who could possibly help the most?" He asked.

Mei sighed. "Its about D'Jok Corso, I...I am trying to find a way to get back together with him. I miss him, as my guy."

Corso smiled.

"Hold on a minute Mei, I am going to divert this call to the one that can help this matter the most," he said with a smile.

Seconds later, Mei looked into a pair of hazel eyes.

"How may I help you Mei?" Sonny asked with a calm smile.

Mei felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"I really need to find out how to reach deep inside with D'Jok Sonny, I still love him, I just don't know how to reach him, sometimes boys really are complicated."

Sonny smiled.

"I can try to help, but the real work falls on him and you."

Mei smiled,

"so what do you suggest Sonny?..."

* * *

D'Jok was wandering the streets underground on Shiloh.

There was a million thoughts in his head.

Many of them were about Paradisia,and the events that had taken place there. He realised that what had seemed like a great career move,had led to him being very distanced from his real family,The snow kids. And it had only served to make him more distant with all of them.

Sonny telling him about himself, and his bond with the pirates,it had been exactly what D'Jok needed to hear,to pull himself out of the mud.

D'Jok felt a bit ashamed over the fact that he had not seen what Mei,Warren, even Artegor had tried to say.

It actually took Sonny to intervene, to make him wake up and smell the roses. D'Jok thought about what family really was in a new light after this.

So caught up in his own mind was he, that he lost his way.

When he finally looked up, he had no idea where he was.

Oh great, was that ever going to give his dad and Corso something to laugh about. They had warned him before he walked off. Sometimes he wondered if they could see what was going on inside his head.

Maybe they could, maybe it was life experience, Corso and his Dad had lived a rough life as wanted men, it would not surprise him if they had either experienced things like this, or even worse. It was not like they bragged about it, or even shared what they had experienced.

Well, time to bite it and click the panic button.

D'Jok looked for a place to hang out,till one of them could come for him. He pressed the panic button, and opened the door to what looked like an old fashioned ice cream parlour.

An old man looked at him.

"Hey there Kid, may I help you?"

He asked. D'Jok looked at him, a patch over his eye, a real old fashioned pirate this one then, no need for a cybernetic eye on that end.

"I just have to wait for someone to come get me, I am a bit lost to put it that way." The pirate nodded. "So it seems. You are not the type to hang around here." he commented

D'Jok looked at the ice creams.

"I'll have a coconut with hazel and vanilla cream please," he said, and pulled up his card.

The pirate shook his head. "No need for that here. I already know who you are. You're Sonnys boy, D'Jok."

D'Jok nodded.

"Is that a good thing or bad thing around here?" he asked.

The pirate made the ice cream. "It all depends on the reason why you are here. I know your father. If you are here alone, something happened at the end of the friendly match that needs be adressed immidiately. If not, you would be back on Akillian by now."

The old man turned around,as D'Jok sat down.

"Or maybe, you decided to drop football to join your father eh?"

He looked curious at D'Jok.

"No..nothing like that. I don't know. I was hypnotised by Lord Phoenix, who my dad told me has another name, Magnus Blade".

The pirate nodded.

"Then I get why you are here Kid. Magnus has been careless with Pirates tools before, and with dire consequenses for others. If he did something to you, Sonny and Corso will deal with that first of all. After that, I hope for Magnus sake that he has taken refuge somewhere. There is few things that upsets Sonny Blackbones, but going after the ones he loves and cares about, especially you, I would not be surprised if Sonny is already seething inside, and if so, Corso is the only one that can reason with him, and make him focus."

The pirate said as he served D'Jok.

This left D'Jok in deep thoughts.

"If Dad goes after this man, is there a chance he may put an end to this?" He asked. The pirate looked understandingly at him.

"D'Jok, yes, it could go that way, but also, the other way."

The pirate smiled for a second. "I still recall the day Sonny took seat as our leader. That was the day of change for the pirates. It had been prophesized to happen, and finally, we knew who it was. And through these years, Sonny won the loyalty of his men, and their respect. He had done much good for us, as an organization. He is part of our family, forever, and I can assure you,The pirates will always support and protect your father. He is safe with us, and surrounded by people he has helped, and who owes him their lives in many ways."

He studied the Kid.

"Seems you inherited a few traits from your father too D'Jok. But from what I can see, your real family isn't the pirates. I doubt Sonny would allow that. So apart from what Magnus did, what else is weighing you down kid?

That kind of burden you hold, is only carried by someone that has a lot on his or her mind, "said the pirate with a small smirk.

D'Jok looked at him.

"I guess you could call it 'girl' problem." he said.

The pirate nodded.

"I saw it on Paradisia. Must be hard. But one thing I learned is, there is seldom, if ever only one guilty party. She wanted to explore other options, and you were not on board with that huh?" He looked at the striker. Sonnys boy was his fathers spitting image in many ways.

Maybe he could help the young Blackbones the same way he had once sat down with his father, when the pirate chief needed to sort through his thoughts.

And besides, they were inside Shiloh city, The pirates hidden city.

Here, it was safe for the kid. And either Corso, or Sonny would be on their way to get the kid. D'Jok nodded.

"I messed up Mr..." the pirate looked at him.

"The name is Quagmire,I happen to be like the pirates story teller and historian, this is just my side gig."he said.

D'Jok looked at him.

"May I ask something Quagmire? "He asked.

Quagmire smiled.

"Sure thing Kid, ask away. "D'Jok sighed.

"Does this Magnus Blade pose a threat to my Dad?"

Quagmire looked at him with a serious look this time. The boy clearly cared deeply for his father, the story around how Sonny found out about his son. was well known around the archupelago,and it seemed it was important to the boy, his father stayed safe.

"At this time, No. Sonny has the loyalty of his men, and he has shown a leadership that made the pirates prosper. From what we can see, Sonny will remain our leader, as no one has openly dared to challenge him. But for you Kid, these matters are not really your concern. You may be Sonny's boy,but in life, you are adrift. This would be a good time for you to get your head straight kid, and get an idea of what you really want in life, and who you want to be part of it"Quagmire suggested.

D'Jok shook his head.

"No, I'm not,not completely adrift at least. I just have to solve this."

The pirate hid a smile behind his hand.

"I could swear I heard the same story many years ago,from a man just like you. You are your fathers son, and every bit as lost as he once was."

D'Jok sighed. "

Who are you really? And why do you care so much about me and my problems?"

The pirate smiled.

"I have been a pirate for a long long time D'Jok. You don't survive in a tank filled with sharks unless you know how to observe your surroundings and the players.

You will only stay till Corso and Sonny figure this out. Then, you will return to your real family, The three time galactik champions. Sonny may not say it, but this achievement, is something he is really proud of you for. For now, you are here to have this issue dealt with. Whatever follows, don't worry about it. Sonny knows how to handle it,let him worry about Magnus. Knowing Sonny,he will not take the chance, unless he knows it is safe for you, before you are sent back, he will get as much information as possible, to work through things. You mean the galaxy to him D' Jok, there is no way he would put you in danger. If anything was to happen to you,Sonny would tear the galaxy apart till he found Magnus,and made him pay for this. But put those worries aside D'Jok, Leave that to Sonny and Corso,they know how to handle this. Try to focus on who you are, and where you want your life to go. You are your fathers son, destined for great things. But you also got your own path to walk. Sonny can't do that work for you. He is proud of you D'Jok, but if you want to make him,and yourself proud, it is time you decide on the direction your life should in regard to this team mate of yours, Mei." he said.

D'Jok nodded.

"I messed everything up on Paradisia,I get it, now I got to find out how to get out of the mess." he said.

The pirate nodded with a smile.

"If you want to tell me what the problem is, maybe I can send you in the right direction," he suggested.

D'Jok nodded.

"If you take a seat,I will tell you just how much of a mess things is..."

* * *

Magnus was looking at the progress reports.

It looked his new associates, were ready to go in the GF cup.

Magnus had high hopes that they would be facing the pirates,Sonny's team, on the pitch.

So far,Magnus had not spoken of his plan, but the old inner rage,of the defeat Sonny caused him,when he took the title as leader,still hurt.

He had always known Sonny had what it took to be the leader the pirates sought, and that he was lacking,but it was never a question,until the pirates took matters into their own hands,and held an election behind his back.

It was not just a leader they chose.

They also chose the direction the organization would head.

The pirates was not focused on getting money only, like their name suggested. They wanted the truth about lost loved ones and what had happened to them during Technoids reign.

Sonny had wanted to go that direction for some time, Magnus had not found it worth while. It would not give him any income,and he did not see it as a thing pirates should be concerned with.

It was clear, he was at fault to some degree,for what had taken place.

The pirates taking to a secret election should have alerted him that they were unhappy with things,but Magnus didn't think of it that way.

His ego was bruised.

In truth, he had won the fight,Sonny had been on the ground, unable to get up. the way he saw it, Sonny had lost the battle.

He just got lucky with his aim,when he threw his sword.

The sword cracked the pipe, that was just pure luck the way he saw it, but it left him injured, and unable to fight right then. it should have been the other way around in his eyes.

But he had to admit,Sonny had done good as a leader, and pirates as an organization had prospered. And they did not seek riches,the only times they did steal,was to keep a supply of merchandise to sell,to have food.

Magnus would not admit it, but if Sonny found out what he had done to his son, he would come after him.

Magnus knew the only way to stay safe from Sonny's rage, was to build a defence Sonny could not penetrate. Wich would not be easy. They were in Shiloh now, and this was The pirates territory. What was more, it was Sonnys territory, his playground. The years that had passed left him at a disadvantage.

The loyalty the pirates had to Sonny was stronger than they had ever been with him.

And he knew the Sonny Blackbones that cared little about himself,seeing he had lost everything dear to him,This Sonny Blackbones,he had a young son, and a purpose in life again,by now,Sonny was someone he did not know very well. And that, without Magnus wanting to admit it,made Sonny a dangerous enemy, and a reason to worry for his own safety...

* * *

D'Jok twirled his ice cream around, trying to make desissions about his life, he did not see Sonny enter through the main door.

Quagmire, the owner, looked up as he entered. Before Sonny could approach his son, Quagmire stopped him.

"Give him a little while Sonny, he is making some decissions right now."he said.

Sonny nodded.

"How has he been acting? " he asked. Quagmire smirked.

"Very much the same way another young man I once knew, when he came to join us. He has guts,and will power, all he needs is a little loving guidance and be pointed in the right direction." he said with a smirk.

Sonny smiled.

"And how did things turn out for that young man, following your advice?" He asked mildly.

Quagmire grinned.

"Last time I saw him, very well. He is respected by his friends, and he became a living legend among the pirates, becoming our leader even, or what would you say? ." he smiled.

Sonny chuckled.

"Well, as far as loving nudge for guidance goes, I think I may know just the thing to do here." he said. Quagmire smiled.

"You got some additional information then I take it?"He asked, looking at the Pirate Chief. Sonny smirked.

"Yes, from an unexpected source. Now, it is all up to him." Sonny said looking at his son.

D'Jok had heard them speak. Now He looked up.

"You should be a counselor Quagmire, as you offer excellent advice. How much do I owe for the ice cream?" He asked.

"On the house" said Quagmire with a grin.

"Did you find any answers D'Jok?" Sonny asked with a soft smile.

D'Jok nodded.

"I know what I need to do. But first, there is some deleted memories we need to recover."he said.

Sonny looked at him.

"That may not be so easy D'Jok, but Corso and I talked about a solution. He went to get the equipment needed." Sonny said.

D'Jok nodded.

"The sooner this is solved Dad, the sooner I can start trying to win Mei back." he said. Sonny was happy D'Jok had come to this conclusion.

His son was learning to tackle what life threw at him, head on.

Sonny laid a hand around D'Jok's neck.

"Let's go D'Jok, better not keep Corso waiting, he gets cranky easily."

D'Jok nodded with a grin.

"And as you happen to share living quarters with him, you off course do so to keep him from harming others then?"

Sonny grinned when confronted with that statement.

"Something like that." he said.

Quagmire looked after them as they left.

"A fine young man that D'Jok, definately Sonny's son through and through," he smiled as he cleaned up...

* * *

D'Jok looked at what Corso had set up.

"What's with the bench with the restraints?" He asked as he looked at Corso.

Corso laid a hand on D'Jok's shoulder.

"Listen D'Jok. I tried to make this process pain free, but sadly, to be efficient, that is impossible. The restraints are to hold you in place when it gets really painful. It won't last long. But you can't go anywhere out of sight from Sonny or me for the next four days. We need to monitor this closely. It has been a long time since last time we did this process."he admitted.

D'Jok looked confused. Sonny had him sit down.

"It is a rare thing to do around here D'Jok. Most of the pirates has escaped horrible things. This is why we say that the story is always the same, it is just a different wrapping. Sometimes, it is necessary to help some delete memories that are too hard to carry, and other times, wich is rare, memories has been erased, and needs to be helped in resurfacing. This has usually happened with Pirates that at one point left, and tried to get back to normal life, and found that they could not do it. They then return, after having asked for help to find the lair, meaning, one from the lair, will come and guide them here. Their memories are restored after that. But most that leave, do not come back. Some, we know to have been imprisoned. Others, has ended up dead. And some just disappear. Never to be found again." Sonny told his son.

D'Jok looked at him.

"And what would happen to you if they capture you Dad, do you know what awaits?" D'Jok asked, looking at Sonny.

Sonny rose from his seat. He walked to the middle of the room.

"I know what awaits if I am taken D'Jok. And for now, I don't want you to be worried about that."

Sonny turned to face his son.

"For now D'Jok, we will do what we can to reverse the progress, and have you return to your team."

D'Jok nodded.

"Let's get started then..."

* * *

At Akillian, Sinedd was sitting in his room at the Aarch Academy.

He was lucky he had his sister, had found his mom, dad, all thanks to the intervention of Tias Father and D'Jok's mother.

But the Snow Kids as a team was weakened with the Resonance of Rocket.

Sinedd felt guilty.

He was the one that had made Rocket play netherball, not just Rocket, Kernor, Warren, WooWamboo, Luur,Akkamuk ten, and a lot of other players with Flux. And they all had varying degrees of resonance, depending on how long they had been inside the sphere.

Sinedd had learned about the multi flux, when speaking with Sonny and Clamp. The two former scientists, once made scape goats for the mad General Bleylock and his hunger for power, was pulling their fair share of the load to correct the consequenses of their failure.

Sinedd knew how close Sonny had come to loosing his life, in Bleylocks grasp. He felt like he could have been responsible for D'Jok really becoming an orphan. And Sonny and Clamp had set an example for him.

If they could get a second chance to correct things, sort of reverse what had gone wrong, then he should be no Worse.

Sinedd had his suspicion about the programs to the sphere having been rigged. That there was something Harris did not tell him.

It was time to bring this information forth to those that could do something about it. Sinedd decided, to avoid forgetting anything, write down all he knew, and let the pros handle the rest.

He thought of many things. Among them, Mei. It never felt like this was as smooth as he wished for. He had realised that Meis mother had been behind her saying yes to go with the Shadows. Mei was a snow kid through and through, and that truly was where she belonged.

He had also noticed, how she still had pulled D'Jok back to the team.

No matter what she said, she still had feelings for D'Jok, and they went deep.

Sinedd went to find Mei, the two of them needed to talk...

* * *

At Shiloh City, D'Jok felt better.

It had been four days under the watchful eye of either Corso or his Dad. Sonny had gone off earlier this morning, to train with the Pirates.

Corso was alone with him now. And he checked D'Joks stats.

"How is things looking Corso?" D'Jok wondered.

Corso checked the gauges.

"I am not finding anything D'Jok, but I don't have the last word. Until Sonny makes his call, I can't tell what will happen." Corso said.

D'Jok nodded.

He rose from the sofa the same minute Sonny opened the door to their quarter, coming back from football practice.

"How was practice?"Corso asked.

"We are on track for the the start of the cup," Sonny replied, as he emptied a water bottle.

"Dad? "

Sonny looked at his son,

"what is it D'Jok? " he asked. His son looked at him.

"I would just want to know, if I can return to Akillian soon. I got things I want to settle, with Mei, and with my own ways of being," he said.

Sonny looked at Corso.

"How is his results Corso?" He asked. Corso looked him.

"All results are fine Sonny, no abnormalities." Sonny nodded.

"I will arrange with a ship for you to return then D'Jok. I believe you and Mei have an upcoming conversation to make." he said.

D'Jok looked at him.

"How did you know about that Dad?"

Corso chocked a chuckle.

"Lets just say, we have been informed D'Jok, and we told that all we would to, was to give an advice. To act on it, is up to the two of you."

D'Jok nodded.

"Mei contacted you, didn't she?" he asked. Sonny nodded.

"She did, and like Corso just said, we do not meddle in this, we will only be advicing you and her. As Mei did not want to involve her mother, she came to us for help."

D'Jok nodded.

"I think it is time for me to return to Akillian now, I got some matters to attend to..."

_Well, D_'_Jok has decided to fight for Mei. For all their fans and those that want to see them back together, I am only working with what the original show left us, to see if this is possible. Has D_'_Jok changed enough to make it,and is Mei ready to meet him half ways. Who are Magnus Blades new accomplices in this matter, and who will play who, in the upcoming matches_? _All this and more is to follow. A big Thank you to Paranoid girl for her time beta reading my stories. She has her own stories to write as well, so I am grateful she found time to do this for me. It will be some time till next chapter, I am tryin to plan out a direction before I write, and I also have another story I am writing at the same time. Much of this will be tying to tie up the loose ends left in the show, towards something that either ends in a new flux war, or possibly a peaceful resolution. I have not decided yet, but I will not close the possibillity for a full pardon of The pirates, or if so is not possible, sooner or later, Sonny would possibly be imprisoned or face whatever Technoid has really got planned. Or, as a third option, maybe the most unlikely team will now, that they have a flux, will be the ones that defeat the Snow Kids. Because I do not believe it is realistic with a 4th_ _win in a row. Other teams also need to shine, and for me, The pirates are the fair play team. They deserve a place in the final, and we will see if it will be them facing the Snow Kids, or another team. Only time will tell. If you like the story, please share your thoughts in a review_


	7. Chapter 7

At the Black Manta, a small ship was made ready for departure. D'Jok looked at it, thoughtful. He looked to the side, as he felt his fathers hand on his shoulder. "Are you feeling ready now D'Jok? and more importantly, have you decided on how to go about this? I stand by my word, and the advice given, not just by Corso and me, but all others that has offered you their insights while you were here. Now, it is all on you how this will go "He said, sounding slightly concerned.

D'Jok nodded. "If I am to be able to live with myself, and have the life I want,what other choice do I have Dad? I am not a pirate, but a snow kid. I let my ego get the better of me, I admit that I sometimes dont think things through. I take the full responsibility that Mei dumped me. I was not fair to her, and she was right to call me out on me only focusing on winning, while all my friends changed. I also happen to have a responsibility to the Galactik Kids, They asked me to Teach them, I said yes to do that. Now, I got to clean up the mess I made for myself. And hopefully, the nightmares will be over now,if not I guess you have a plan to help me sort it out" he said, looking at his father who had been joined by Corso.

Corso looked compassionately at the red head striker.

"I can give no guarantees D'Jok,what we did was simply to extract what may look like planted memories, possibly a result of what was erased. I am not a scientist, but I happen to know how to operate the equipment. The data collected, Sonny and Clamp will work on reviewing the results, and then, we will see what can be done," he assured the younger Blackbones. Sonny nodded this, clearly in thought.

"I'll come to the academy D'Jok, as soon as the analyzis is done and I got a result from this to work with. Clamp and I have to be very careful about this, as there is an increased presence of Technoid at Akillian now,and I still happen to be wanted" he said. D'Jok nodded.

"You don't think someone has alerted them that you may be close by do you Dad? I don't like the idea of you putting yourself at risk. I still have not forgotten what it was like on Paradisia, when you were poisoned. The only thing that would be worse, is you being locked up in an unknown Technoid prison," D'Jok said.

"Not sure that is what they have planned D'Jok,the file on Sonnys sentecing is still not cracked" said Corso with a smirk. "Huh, what do you mean Corso? "D'Jok looked confused.

Sonny smiled softly.

"Don't you worry about it D'Jok, They have tried for more than 25 years, and all runs has been unsuccessful. As long as it is robots we deal with, I would not worry about it. They make for a good excersise run, but not more. And you know, I am always careful, Technoid would have to have extreme luck to catch me off guard. If they did, I would say they earned the capture, but it would not last long. I always escape" Sonny reminded him. D'Jok nodded. Then, he turned to the ship.

"It is time. See you soon Dad, and thanks," D'Jok said as he hugged his father.

Sonny smiled to his son.

"Glad we had these days D'Jok, I got a chance to practice being a father," he said. Corso grinned,

"Not to mention, this is the longest time the two of you have spent together without being haunted down." he commented. D'Jok nodded.

" Lets just hope, that one day, you pirates wont have to hide. That you can have normal lives." he said. Sonny smiled.

"Someday, we will D'Jok, I just don't know when that will be."

D'Jok entered the ship. And Corso and Sonny closed it up, and sent it off. As soon as the ship was out of sight, Corso could tell Sonny had held his anger in, and now, he was letting it out.

"That Magnus, he is lucky I am not breaking his neck for what he did to my son,"Sonnys voice was vibrating with share anger.

Corso carefully put a hand to his shoulder.

"Easy Sonny, you know that we did all we could to counter it. He may not have known D'Jok was your son, if he knew, he would have been extremely careful" Corso tried.

"Still, there are more unknowns here than I am comfortable with" Sonny was clearly angry.

"The snow kids are still young adults, that kind of manipulation tactics, with the consequenses it has, We have seen it before Corso,both of us, and we have been helpless to do anything about it, this time... it hits too close to home for me" he said. Corso turned Sonny towards him.

"Sonny, lets head for the training room on board the Black Manta. You are seething, and last time I checked, that is when I make mistakes. We cant afford you doing that. Lets duke it out in a combat session. I promise you, I will let you win one round," he invited. Sonny let some of the tension go.

"I think I will win all three rounds,I get more focused when I am angry" he mused. Corso grinned. "We will see about that hotshot." he teased.

The two entered The Black Manta, laughing...

* * *

The snow kids was waiting when D'Jok arrived. The pirates ship dropped him off only to return to the coordinates they were at when he departed.

Micro Ice was happy to see him."D'Jok, welcome home" he cheered

D'Jok smiled when he saw all his friends come to meet him. But most of all, his gaze sought Mei. She smiled carefully, but since Sinedd stood by her, she was also a bit careful. D'Jok felt a bit upset by that. He loved her, so much, it literally hurt inside his chest, and now, he had no idea how to speak to her, how to get out what was on his mind, and in his heart.

Clearly, this was not going to be easy. He also met Sinedds gaze. And he noticed the distance between him and Mei. Sure, they stood next to each other, and they held hands, but Mei seemed unhappy. Something had to have happened while he was gone. But now, he just wanted to reconnect with his team mates.

It was not long until they were in the holo trainer.

"Let's find out if you slacked of while on Shiloh,or kept up with us" said Rocket with a smile.

Clamp grinned where he stood."From my experience of going with Sonny and the pirates, slack off is a not possible option when he is around. Sonny is the most driven man I know of. And when you work for him, whatever capacity that is in, you work till you drop, no matter who you are" he chuckled.

Dame Simbai smiled too.

"I have noticed the same. The only way to calm things with him, is by poisoning him,it seems. That way he at least gets some much needed rest" she commented.

Clamp nodded.

"I wonder what they found on this examination on D'Jok. If This Lord Phoenix that now calls himself Magnus Blade, his old pirate name,has hurt D'Jok in any way, I really feel sorry for him. Sonny will not let him get away with it. He can be quite intense sometimes, and if you intentionally hurt anyone close to him,I can promise you, you don 't want to be near him when he finds out. Just like with Technoid, if Sonny finds out that this was deliberate, he will make Magnus pay for it". Clamp said gravely serious.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"I wonder if this Magnus Blade made sure the pirates had their flux activated to put a locator beacon on them. To prevent them from sneaking up on him. He seems dangerous. And if he is an enemy to Sonny and his men, he would use the flux to locate them" she thought out loud.

Clamp nodded.

"He is. I also know Sonny never fully trusted him.I have seen the looks he and Corso exchanged before, when it came to General Bleylock. The pirates are on high alert about this man. And surely, for good reasons. They also seemed veary of him on board on the way back from Paradisia. Whatever this Magnus Blade is capable of, both Corso and Sonny on high alert at the same time, is a cause for concern. If they did not need his help finding Harris, they would only have helped him off and left him in a neutral port, not brought him here to Genesis to help track down Harris" he said.

Dame Simbai nodded. She had not told anyone, but she was worried this time, and especially for D'Jok. She kept an eye on the gauges that showed D'Joks health. All seemed fine,but she decided to stay alert.

* * *

Inside the holo trainer, D'Jok was playing his hardest. Even Micro Ice was panting this time.

"Gee D'Jok, what did they feed you on Shiloh? You are a powerhouse out there" he said.

D'Jok grinned.

"Secret formula Micro Ice. No seriously, it was fruits and healthy nutritious food. Dad has a member of his team that is a qualified nutritionist. Trust me, they eat healthy all of them, better than us even" he laughed.

Tia was curious.

" Did you ever see the pirates team without their masks on D'Jok? I have always been curious to how they look without their masks" she said.

Sinedd and Mei had joined them.

"Honestly Tia, so have I. When we went with them to save Mei, Micro Ice and the kids, I never once saw them take those masks off once. You have been there for four days D'Jok. Surely you must have seen them without masks" said Sinedd.

"They are wanted men after all. Just because Sonny knows how to escape without getting captured, it is necessary for them to keep a low profile. Maybe it is better we don't know, and better for them" Mei said.

D'Jok sent her a grateful smile.

"Thanks Mei. The pirates are best off being anonymous.I did see them without masks, but Dad asked me to keep quiet about it. We trained hard, Dad is a real beast as a coach, no rest or slacking, that is for sure. But they are a great team, and great guys and girls off the pitch too. I have had fun with them" he said.

"Sounds like you got to hang some with them then, considering switching teams again D'Jok?" Sinedd asked, raising an eyebrow, and reminding D'Jok of his decision on Paradisia.

D'Jok gritted teeths.

"Dad won't let me Sinedd. I asked.I would need to be a full time pirate to sign up. And he made it clear, in no uncertain terms, I am a snow kid, and this is where I will stay. He was not exactly impressed with me joining Team Paradisa in the first place.I asked what he thought, and I lived to regret that. He even told me that I endangered myself by making such a move, and if I ever consider such a move again, to tell him first, so he can drill some sense into my head. And he was right, it was a bad decision." he admitted.

Mei had said something similar to him before. It was clear to her, why D'Jok had come back to the snow kids. It was not because of her, and her trying to talk him into it, nor was it because of Warren or even Artegor Nexus talking to him. When D'Jok got into it and let his ego take over, there seemed to be only one person that could really talk sense into him. His father.

Mei decided to talk to Sinedd first. She had made a decision. Maybe it would come back to bite her, but something in D'Joks eyes made him feel as lost as she was. If there was any chance at all that this could be corrected, they both needed to speak together. And first of all, she needed to do something hard. Sinedd did not deserve what she was about to do, but this time, the joint advice from both Corso and Sonny was the one she would follow. Not the ones from her mother, who was no stranger to manipulation and power games to have it her way. It was because of her meddling that she had made the choice to go to Paradisia with Sinedd in the first place. All because she listened to her mothers advice. Her mothers words still rung in her head.

"The only way to succeed at what you want Mei, is by being a real striker. No one cares about the defence players. They only want to speak to those that score the goals."

Those words..they had cost her the relationship with the one she really loved.

Sure, D'Jok could act like a child, he was even overly focused on always winning, but that did not make the break up entirely his fault. She was the one that snuck off to Paradisia with Sinedd, because her mother told her to.

She had been found out by Clamp, after the holo connection was cut off and haf to be re established. If only she had not listened to her mother.

Mei felt a tear in the corner of her thanks to her mother meddling, she would now have to hurt Sinedd. He was a great guy, that was not the problem.

The problem was simple enough. Her heart was still with D'Jok. And from the hurt expression in his eyes, she suspected he was hurting every bit as much as her. But he hid it, in front of their team mates, and especially Sinedd.

She knew Maya had told D'Jok to avoid hurting Sinedd, that his life so far had left him vulnerable. And she could see Sinedd still spent a lot of time with his sister. She was an only child, and did not know how it was like to have siblings. And the way her mother acted, she doubted her mother ever considered the idea after her birth. Her and D'Jok had that in had even caught herself wondering how D'Jok would have felt if he had siblings. Maybe he did, Sonny was a pirate, a wanted man, but that did not mean he did not have a new wife, or girlfriend hidden in Shiloh somewhere. And as she knew how protective he was of his son, she could imagine how protective he would be of a spouse or significant other. These would be the people that meant the most to him, the ones Technoid could force his surrender to them by, if they knew. It was only natural that any such person would be a well kept secret. Mei sighed. After her talk with Corso and Sonny, seeking their advice in the matter, she secretly wished her own father had been the same way to her as Sonny was to D_'_Jok. Maybe he was not there all the time, as the leader of the pirates, and with a bounty on his head, that was really asking too much anyway. But still, the times they did get, even if it wasn't much,made D'Jok happy. He was proud of his father. And Mei had seen, Sonny was also proud of his son. And why not. D'Jok, herself, and all the snow kids had won the galactik football cup three times in a row. No one had ever done that before. Not to mention it was three times in a row. And all the ups and downs they had been through. They had all grown so much. Tia and Rocket..a rock solid couple to the eye, but even they had ups and downs. That was normal within a relationship. And it seemed, thanks to her listening to bad advice, now it was her and D'Joks turn. Mei sighed. How to do this, how to tell Sinedd this was not working out, without sounding stone cold? She saw Sinedd look at her. And he seemed to sense it too.

"Mei?"he asked, sounding insecure.

"Yes Sinedd, what's the matter?" she asked.

Sinedd looked away for a second.

"Can we talk, in private?"

Mei followed Sinedd to his room...

* * *

Magnus was looking through all the files he had found. Not much was known about Corsos past, true that, but if he wanted to put Sonny in his place,and stop a possible attack, he needed to strike first.

All he had found so far, was about the chissian Army, and a few mentionings in coneection with an attack on Ascaron. An attack on a Technoid compound there. Magnus creased his eyebrows. Corso seemed to have every bit as much reason as Sonny and many other with them, to hate Technoid. But finding information that would allow for him to use it against Corso, and in turn Sonny, proved difficult. And it was not difficult to find out why. Corso was an elite soldier. A sergeant of what would be a decorated war hero. Except, he was listed as a deserter. Interesting. That would mean he was not just wanted by Technoid, but also by the army. It did not appear the chissian army was the ones with the problem though. The problem seemed to be Ascaron.

Where many pirates came from. The planet that exploded, and later, became the large Shiloh Archipelago. The pirates hideout. Magnus continued to read, and then, he grinned.

"With this, you will either willingly step down Sonny, or are you going to risk your best friends freedom to remain in seat? I will take back what is rightfully mine, and you will bow to my demands Sonny Blackbones. That, or you will find out exactly what Technoid has planned for you in imprisonment" he laughed.

* * *

_I will shorten down the chapters some, as it takes a long time to write twenty something pages, and I also write two other fics at the same was meant to be my main project, true, but I got more inspiration on my other fics. So for now, the chapters will be shorter, but more compact._

_And for all those wondering, the journey back for Mei and D_'_Jok has started. But first, Mei has something she needs to do. And how is Magnus Blade going to go after Corso,to get back at Sonny_? _All this and more in the chapters to come._

_Thank you to all my followers that read and has questions. I will attempt to answer these in the coming chapters._


	8. Chapter 8

Sinedd did not feel good. Even if he knew it was the right decision, it still did not feel all that good to do. But, he knew. He did not have the time for a girlfriend. Mei deserved someone that would give her attention. And when he thought of it, he had seen it. On Paradisia, when Mei left The shadows, to go back to the Snow Kids. Finally, even he had left the Shadows, and joined the three time champions again. And he had experienced his first ever galactik football cup win. And he had not done it for himself,he had not even done for Mei. He had done it for his sister. If it was just him, he would have stayed angry at all that had gone wrong. But then, it was like fate had stepped in. Maya, D'Joks fostermom, who was clearvoyant had stepped in, and with the help of Tias father, The Obia moon ambassador, they had found his real parents. And to top that, when his precious sister, Sunja, was abducted along with Mei,and Micro Ice, and also, the galactik kids, Sinedd got to see how D'Joks father was like. D'Joks father, the chief of the pirates, whom he once had helped General Bleylock of Technoid, come close to kill, when D'Jok had just found out, had also come to his aid. When Clamp failed to trace the galactik kids, Mei and Micro Ice, Sonny Blackbones and his men had been quick to act,seemingly making the impossible a reality. How they had managed to pick up the trail..he guessed that was part of their trade, and an endless list of secrets. Sinedd had to admit, he understood why D'Jok admired his father so much. Sonny Blackbones, the most wanted man in the galaxy, had managed to lock on to the trail of the energy that abducted his sister, and the others, and orchestrated a daring rescue operation to free them. When it came to Mei...Sinedd knew, ever since he found his real family, he had little to no time to really be a boyfriend to Mei. He had a little sister who he tried to be a good role model for, tried to be a good big brother for. To lead her on..it was not fair, to her or him. Sinedd thought he wanted everything, now that all had changed, and he had his real family. But what he found, was that he chewed over too much. Sinedd did not have what it took at the time, to do it all. And if he had to prioritize, his family, his sister, had to come first.

Mei sat on his bed, looking at him.

"What did you want to talk to me about Sinedd?" Mei asked carefully.

Sinedd sighed, then, he took her hands.

"Mei,I care a lot about you. But I also think, the way things are, I am taking on too much, by trying to have a relationship with you. There are so many changes, with my sister and also, adjusting to having my mom and dad in my life. I try to be everywhere, being a good son, a good brother, what I find I cant be, is a good boyfriend" Sinedd sighed.

Mei nodded, and looked to the floor.

"Dont beat yourself up over it Sinedd. I understand." she said.

Sinedd looked at her.

"I am not sure you do Mei, because I am having a hard time understanding what I am trying to tell you myself" Sinedd tried.

This felt like he was failing. And clearly, he did not find the right words.

But Mei looked at him.

"Dont beat yourself up over this. I get it" she said.

Sinedd got up.

"Mei, I dont think you do. I have spent some time thinking, about everything, and especially, us. I...I think maybe we would work better as friends than a couple" he managed.

Mei looked at him. Her blue eyes..it felt like they sometimes saw right through him.

"Sinedd, I have been thinking the same. I mean..I care about you..alot..but, there is someone I feel just gets me, and who I am" she said.

Sinedd nodded.

"I think I was a product of several factors in your life Sinedd. First factor, was my mother wanting for me to be a striker. I dont really think I am cut out for that, but thanks for giving me a chance to try it. I think I feel best along with Thran in defence. And then, there is...someone else whom I feel is a better fit for me. You were right Sinedd, I never got over D'Jok. I dont think the attraction is that he is Sonny Blackbones son, that role is one that is difficult to fill. I think, D'Jok is just more like me,he has his issues. But I..I love him Sinedd" Mei confessed.

Sinedd nodded.

"I know Mei. I knew, I guess somewhere deep within, that I was not your one true love. Your mother loves you, but her ways..she does not seem to worry about who she steps on, to get to her goals. As for us, I think, maybe we should try being friends instead Mei" Sinedd managed.

Mei nodded.

"I was thinking the same Sinedd. You are a great guy and all, but I need to be true to me. I also think..D'Jok needs me. He talks big some times, and his head can be really swollen, but deep down, he is probably more insecure than most of us. He needs me Sinedd,and..I need him" Mei admitted silently.

Sinedd just nodded.

"He has been under immense pressure with all this. When we went with the pirates, I expected he would be given preferential treatment, being Sonnys son and all, but Sonny put him at the bottom of the food chain, along with me. He had to work his way up, just like me. But all in all, we were treated like a part of the crew, and the two top dogs, Sonny and Corso, both were friendly, but stern with us. D'Jok..Around his father, as much as he tries, he really came across as a little boy. But Corso was right, that trip did them both good. I would not be surprised if Sonny met his son when he was supposed to sleep, to talk things over" Sinedd said.

Mei smiled.

"That is what I find attractive with him, in some kind of strange way. That insecurity. Because, deep down, I am also like that. Tough on the outside, but inside, I am still an insecure little girl" she confessed.

Sinedd managed a small smile.

"So, do we have a plan for things then? I need to focus on Sunja, and on finding balance in my life again, and you focus on making up with D'Jok. I think he is the best boyfriend there is for you" Sinedd said.

Mei managed a smile.

"This is the most friendly break up I have ever had" she laughed...

* * *

It felt good to be back. But at the same time, also a bit strange.D'Jok tried to ease himself back into things. It had only been a few days that he was at Shiloh,but it had been days that had made him think. Winning Mei back would not be an easy undertaking. She had seemed quite infatuated with Sinedd. This made D'Jok sigh heavily. He had really made a mess of things. And when he thought of it, he was really lucky that Artegor, Warren, even Sonny had intervened and told him to face the music, and remember his place. Come to think of it, Mei had also reached out. And when he reviewed it, he could see that the break up had led to them still being friends, they still joked and played together. And maybe it was all in his mind, but something made him think,this was maybe only in his mind, but had he seen Mei look at him from a distance, looking sad that things had ended this way? D'Jok did not know for sure. But he strongly felt it. He was pulled from his trail of thoughts as Micro Ice came to find him.

"Clamp asked us to come for a special kick session in the holo trainer D'Jok, they sent me to find you" he said.

"I'll be right there Micro Ice, I just needed some time to think"D'Jok smiled.

Micro Ice studied him.

"What is on your mind D'Jok? You have seemed so thoughtful since you returned from Shiloh. Did Sonny give you something to think off or something?" he asked with a grin.

D'Jok grinned back.

"He did. Dad has a way to make you look at the bigger picture in things.I guess..if anyone could make me see my mistakes, and realise what needed be done, it is him. I am truly happy I got him as my dad. Now I got to make some sort of plan as to how to make it all happen" he said.

Micro Ice nodded.

"You got no idea how many times I wish I could have switched places with you. Being the son of Sonny Blackbones, the coolest pirate in the galaxy, that must be something anyone as cool as me would want to do. I would make a super pirate" the raven haired striker said.

D'Jok laughed.

"I think I need to ask Dad to adopt you Micro Ice. If he can handle being my dad, I am sure he can handle you as well. But we wont be allowed to join the pirates. I think we stand a better chance of being locked up in a cell with a chaperone than actually joining them. Even Corso made it clear that me becoming a pirate is an option that is not on the table where my father is concerned" D'Jok smiled with a chuckle.

Micro ice smiled.

"Well, first of all, the cup matches start soon, and we are drawn to face the Shadows in our first match. That is no cake walk, so We need to practice hard in the coming weeks" he informed his friend.

D'Jok smiled as he looked at his , they went to join the others at the holotrainer...

* * *

Shilohe...Magnus Blades HQ..

Magnus checked the progress of the new mix of multi flux he had. This was a mix Sonny was not yet aware of. It would make his new cyborg army invincible. He may not even need to put his former adversary in a jam, the way things progressed. A new Technoid shipment had just the components he needed for his cyborgs. Magnus had ordered a small army off to intercept it, and take the cargo. He did not care wether Sonny was accused of this or not. He was going to rebuild the kingdom a Technoid employee, Harris, had stolen from him when Paradisia was made a dead planet. He never really had settled the score with Harris over this. And to be honest, he was still seething that it had happened. If only Vega had not managed to poison Sonny... Could those days where he had sought the pirates, trying to find out where they had taken Sonny after rescuing him, really have made a difference? He had sought everywhere, but no trace was found of the pirates, wich was not surprising. He knew their ways. And he knew Corso. The first Corso would suspect of having done this to Sonny, was him. The chance of cooperation on that end was slim at best. So he had followed D'Jok, after overhearing Clamp call him. He had heard that D'Jok had a father connected with the pirates. It was not until D'Jok told him, he really saw it. The kid was a red haired version of Sonny, his protege, and his chosen successor. He would never admit it, but Sonny had done a lot better than him as their leader. There was no doubt the pirates prospered and that he was the right man for the job. But still..how Sonny had pushed him out of the pirates, it still stuck in his mind. It did not matter that the pirates had voted over it, It was still betrayal. But did he really want the pirates back in his life? Was it not more peaceful like this? Magnus shook his head. There was consequenses for mutiny like the one Sonny had started. He cared about the pirate sure, but not enough to let this slide. Corso would also get his, as he had no doubt Corso was part of the gathering the men to go against him. And, unless they had finally found a safe way to do it, D'Joks hypnosis would raise a problem. It was just a matter of time, before the memories of real life, would start to mess things up for D'Jok. And when that happened, Sonny would realise what he had done. And Sonny would not let this slide. The hypnosis itself was harmless, but the sideeffect could indeed cause problems for the snow kid. And if this was harmful to his son,Sonny would come after him with all he had, pirates in tow. He needed to fortify his HQ to a level the pirates could not easily break though. His new army of cyborgs would protect him, not even the seed of shiloh, wich looked powerful, could save the pirates if they went after him here. And as soon as that was accomplished, Corso would receive his punishment. Magnus looked at the photo he had of the two from back in the days. So different, yet, so much the same, with simmilar hurt, and simmilar rage. They had bonded in ways he never saw coming. But this time, he needed to separate Corso and  
Sonny. If they worked together, they would solve matters relatively fast. If they were separated, it would prove more difficult. Magnus made ready the last preparations for his trap...

* * *

Technoid Base...Duke Maddox office...

A nervous man in brown suit, knocked on Duke Maddox office door.

Duke Maddox had just finished his dinner, and the robot was on his way out with the dirty dishes.

"Your Excellency?" he said, voice shaking.

"Ah Edwin, come in. No need to be nervous, I am in a good mood" said Duke Maddox, wiping himself from the meal.

"That may change soon Your Excellency. The convoy with the new metal alloy has been taken, by the pirates" Edwin informed.

Duke Maddox gritted teeth.

"It figured. It was just a matter of time before Sonny would be back to his old tricks. What makes no sense, is why he would steal a shipment of pure metal alloy. To my knowledge, it would be difficult to sell" Duke Maddox mused.

Edwin got even more nervous. How would the news of the return of an old enemy sound to this moodsick boss of his?

"It seems, this is not Sonny Blackbones doing Your Excellency. As this pirate, whoever he is, left a message, a hologram message" he stammered.

This made Duke Maddox look up.

"It seems the pirates as a group is having a problem within then. Sonny would not go about things this way. If this was him,he would have appeared in person, to see me. Well knowing I cant arrest him that easily" Duke Maddox said.

Edwins hands was shaking slightly, as he took out the disc.

"Would you want to see the message, Your Excellency?" he asked.

Duke Maddox rubbed his beard.

"Play it" he ordered.

As he viewed the message, Duke Maddox started to grow aggitated.

"Have Magnus Blade wanted for 5 million standard units, that bastard is going to pay for this. And also, I need to contact Sonny. I may need his help with this matter" he ordered calmly.

"At once, Your Excellency. Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

Duke Maddox stood, back against him.

"That will be all for now Edwin. Make sure the announcement is made on Arcadia news right away"...

* * *

Aarch Academy, Akillian.. Clamps lab..

Clamp had checked the results for the fluxes of the Galactik kids team, no development to be scared of there as of yet. Wich was a relief, in his mind.

Sonny had asked him to pay careful attention to the team, but also, Mei and Micro Ice after the abduction. Sonny had an eerie feeling something was up, that there was a purpose to the abduction they could not clearly see yet.

So far, the galactik kids did fine. Warren kept an eye on them now, on Genesis, as D'Jok was with the snow kids to train. Then, Clamp turned to look at Mei and Micro Ices flux samples.

"Good Lord, no" The old man exclaimed, as he saw Micro Ices sample.

"Harvey, scramble my call, stealth mode 5" he ordered.

Seconds later, Sonnys face appeared on screen.

"You find anything Clamp? You seem more tense than normal" Sonny stated.

Clamp nodded.

"Meis flux samples after the abduction are fine, for now. But, there is a problem with Micro Ices flux" Clamp informed.

Sonny creased his eyebrows.

"Show me" he asked.

As he looked at the gauges, and the stats Clamp sent him, he grew worried.

"Have you talked to Dame Simbai yet? She may have something that will reduce this. Just the same, I will be on my way to Aarch academy. We cant wait any longer. If this progresses, it could end up in a form of flux poisoning. For now, Tell Micro Ice to play with an inhibitor bracelet. And keep a close eye on Mei, she may be the next victim" Sonny said.

Clamp nodded.

"Sure thing Sonny. But if Micro Ice and Mei have this, what about the Galactik Kids? Should we inform Warren and D'Jok about this possibility?" Clamp asked.

Sonny rubbed his chin.

"For now, Keep it to informing Warren. D'Jok has enough to worry about with the upcoming matches, and some more..personal matters" The pirate chief smiled.

Clamp smiled a tired smile.

"he finally decided to clear things up with Mei then? That is about time. Those two miss each other. And from what I heard, Mei ended things with Sinedd. Wich should make things easier" he stated.

Sonny smiled.

"I dont recall having ever had that much trouble myself when it came to the ladies, mostly because I was busy with other things" he mused.

Clamp laughed.

"You hid away in the Technoid labs when you were his age Sonny. The ladies were all there,you just found it better to hide than put yourself out there. That was, until Helena came along. she made you interested enough, and in record time" Clamp said.

Sonny could hear Corso chuckle behind him.

"You sound rather amused Corso" he stated without turning.

Corso smiled.

"I am, anyone as deeply private as you Sonny, hearing someone that knows your other side speak of you like this.. It is a goldmine of information. I am indeed enjoying it, and I am not the least bit sorry or ashamed to admit it" he said.

Sonny shook his head. Clamp and Corso ganging up on him was a battle he could not win.

"Get as many results as possible ready Clamp. I will be on my way in a matter of hours. Also, let D'Jok know of my arrival, I promised to let him know this time" Sonny informed.

Clamp nodded.

"Ok, Should I prepare a landing spot for The Black Manta?" He asked.

Sonny shook his head.

"No need, I will be coming alone. We are well aware of the presence of Technoid police on Akillian after the abduction of the would have been imposible to keep it hidden for very long. So far the pirates are not blamed for it, but that could easily change depending on Duke Maddox moods. Good thing Duke Maddox kept it out of the media til now. But just the same. The Black Manta, even in stealth mode, she could be found out. So, I will come in a small pod, while The Black Manta docks out in the open. We have done it before. And it is far easier for one man to sneak in undetected, than it is for severals" Sonny commented.

He was interrupted by a worried Bennett.

"Sonny, you might want to look at the news before you speak, Duke Maddox has some news to share. I am not sure this is good news for us" he said.

Sonny turned on the holo tv in the control center, so they could all watch.

Duke Maddox was standing next to Callie, and talked about the latest strikes at his convoys. The cargo had been plates of a new light metal alloy, but one that was made to be very strong.

As of now, the speculation was if this was Sonnys doing, and if so, where would he sell it? Sonny rubbed his chin as he watched it. The pirates under his command did not deal with this, but now, Magnus Blade was also back in the mix. There was a high likelyhood that Magnus had a team, using this metal to construct , some kind of defence for his new strong hold, during the rescue mission, it had looked incomplete. And maybe, something more.

"Bennett, access Technoids databases, check out this metal alloy, I got a feeling of what it may be used for, and if I am right, Magnus just started fortifying his strong hold. I see no reason there cant be two different fractions of Pirates, if we can co exist without going at each other" he mused.

Corso looked sceptical.

"Well, he did invite us last time, and see what kind of mess that ended in." he reminded him.

Sonny nodded, Clamp still on the line.

"Sonny, could this alloy be used to make new cyborgs? We already know Team Paradisia was cyborgs, he must have the plans to construct and build them" Clamp suggested.

Sonny agreed.

"That could also mean,he abducted Micro Ice, Mei and the galactik kids to syphon flux from them. However, the kids are still very young, and although they have flux, all tests show, this is not a strongly developed flux yet. Unlike the Snow kids, The galactik kids did not have the interference of Meta flux to strengthen their flux. This is an advantage for now, but also the reason, we need a closer eye on them. Since D'Jok is training for the cup matches under Rockets coaching, we need eyes on the Galactik kids on Genesis" Sonny said.

Clamp looked at him.

"You dont think Magnus would use the flux of the kids do you Sonny? That could seriously jeopardize their health, even after they are now rescued" Clamp said.

"The kids were abducted for a reason Clamp, as of now,we dont know what that reason was. But I know Magnus, as do you Corso. He has a plan with this, and we need to get to the bottom of what that plan is, as soon as possible" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"There are a few different elements here too Sonny. D'Jok was the one that found and formed the team, also, Micro Ice is his best friend, and Mei is his former girlfriend, at least until we hear of any new development. Could all of this be an attack aimed at D'Jok?Possibly for deserting Team Paradisia after the Paradisian cup?" Corso wondered.

Sonny seemed to be in deep thoughts.

"Clamp, I need to speak to Mei and Micro Ice, one on one as soon as I arrive. there may be some information in this, relating to my son, that I need in order to plan out the next step. They may have heard something that will point us in the right direction" Sonny said.

Clamp nodded.

"So, keep D'Jok in the dark about things for now?" he asked.

Sonny nodded.

"Have him focus on making up with Mei for now, I believe that will be a big enough challenge to take on, besides the trainings for the cup matches. Mei is head strong, so is he. It is no surprise they butt heads from time to time, but it is time they learn to talk it out, and work it out on their time where they could always run to their parents, like they did as kids, is now ending. and the best tool to give them, is the ability to work things out on their own" he said.

Clamp nodded. During the conversation, Sonny missed part of the interview with Duke Maddox.

Wich made him rewind the interview some. There was things he had missed during the conversations. Holo tv was a practical invention that way. Now,he looked at the rest of the interview.

Duke Maddox was furious over the thefts, but found that this did not match at all with Sonnys normal way of acting. The pirates only stole when a cargo was easy to sell, or if they were in need of money. And it seemed, having any factory to build something from the stolen cargo, did not fit into who Sonny was. But it did fit another pirate profile. A profile that had not bee seen in many years. Duke Maddox brought up an old poster of a man, wearing a mask. Magnus Blade, once the leader of the pirates, until Sonny had replaced him. There was little known about his whereabouts. But a link was made between Magnus Blade, and the former Lord Phoenix. This, Duke Maddox reluctantly admitted, was due to information given from Sonny Blackbones and his men. Magnus whereabouts was unknown, but Duke Maddox set out to change that.

"I am now putting out a bounty for 5 million standard units for the capture of the pirate Magnus Blade, that puts him right next to Sonny on the wanted list. One of them is surely worth a whole lot more, but as long as he does not cause more problems, I will keep the bounty where its at" Duke Maddox said.

This made the crew of Black Manta smirk. If Magnus wanted to return to pirate life, a bounty on his head was to be expected. But Duke Maddox had one last message. Corso grinned.

"Old man Maddox is finally admitting that he has undervalued you Sonny, I have no doubt the comment that one of you is worth more than 5 million is aimed at you. With your knowledge, I would say you are worth at least twice the amount. perhaps even more." Corso said.

Sonny nodded."Lets not jinx it Corso. We have no need to raise the bounty for my capture at this time. It may draw in professional hunters, real bounty hunters. Till now, the amount has been too low to interest them. But if it was raised, it would limit my ability to move, and also, make it more dangerous for you, Mr four Million standard units man" he said with a nodd to Corso. He turned to the screen again.

"That said, I got one last message." Duke Maddox looked at the screen.

"Sonny Blackbones, I need to speak to you. You choose the location if you feel good about an in person meet. But time is of the essence. I am not looking to arrest you, or have you captured this time. But in this matter, I need your help, And Technoid needs your expertise.."...

* * *

_Yes, the plot is thickening. What is it Magnus blade is up to, and how has Micro Ice and possibly also Mei, gotten a form of flux poisoning. Is this a revenge on DJok, for walking out on Team Paradisia, or is Magnus Blade dead set om settling old debts of the past with Sonny. What is the theft of a new metal alloy all about. And lastly, what does Duke Maddox want to tell Sonny, is it a trap or is something seriously wrong. That and more to come._

_To all my readers, I am sorry it is taking some time to update this story, I really wish I could work faster, but I got another job on the side, so that has to come before the writing. I also write another story at the same time, wich is beta read by Paranoid girl, I am not sure wich story will end first. But please be patient, as I will update as soon as I am able. Thank you for all reviews and your patience, I hope to deliver a story worth the wait._


	9. Chapter 9

Corso felt his head was pounding from the blow. What the hell had happened? He could remember having turned a corner, on his way back to the Black Manta to report his finds to Sonny, then, it all went dark. Clearly, he had banged his head at something, or rather, someone had banged him in the head. Corso tried to raise his hands, to access the injury. And found his hands tied on his back. That just made him grin. He was the pirates toughest instructor on survival in the field, with his military background, he had learned the A to z about fleeing ropes. Hell, he had even invented a few new tricks of his own. This idiot had tied the ropes loosely, even a kid could get out of this. It only took him minutes to free his hands. As soon as he had freed his hands, Corso checked the bump on his head. Some dried blood made him hiss from the pain. Not just a bump on the head, he had bled some too. That explained the headache at least. Corso carefully rose to his feets. His head would work to escape this, and his vision was fine for now. Now, to find out where he was and then check in with Sonny. He would be worried now, and that would trigger his sixth sense, making his friend cautious and careful, not to mention on egde. And Sonny Blackbones on edge, for whoever cause that to be, that spelt bad news, as an on edge Sonny meant icecold calm, not like others. Sonny did not act on stress the same way. If there was danger, Sonny would act calmly and collected. To get the upper hand with someone that worked like him, you had to know what weaknesses Sonny had, and those, if any, were few and far between. No, first things first. Where was he? Corso studied the room, and then he walked closer to the wall. Odd, it looked like a newly raised construction. The metal seemed new, and as he checked it, very durable. Hmm. This looked nothing like the metal sheets they normally used to construct things from. It was not even showing signs of wear and tear. Corso came to remember what Duke Maddox had recently revealed. This could be part of the stolen shipments from Technoid, the new metal alloy, wich Sonny suspected was Magnus trying to fortify his stronghold against future attacks. What made no sense, was why he was held here. Did Magnus all of a sudden need a human right hand man, an ex soldier from the chissian special forces? Corso found this to be unlikely. Magnus knew full well where he had pledged his alliance. More than likely, this was an attack on Sonny, and it was possible Sonny was now closer to Magnus game than he was comfortable with. But why take him? He had to admit, Sonny being without his assistance could well leave Sonny more open to attack, unless Bennett was able to fill his role. Corso looked for his transmitter. Fine, it had been removed. No matter. Corso grinned. The cybernetic eye had a few features that would prove helpful. A small tweaking, and Sonny would have inside intel on Magnus stronghold. Corso just finished the tweaking, as someone opened the door to his cell. Corso growled as Magnus entered.

"Want to tell me why I am here Magnus, or do I need to guess?" he asked mockingly.

Magnus was not disturbed by his demeanour at all.

"I am forming a stronger group of pirates than there ever was. I am offering you a chance to be part of a winning team" he said.

"Thanks, but I think I will pass. I am not interested in profit only. There are more important things in life than money. Like the truth, and closure to trauma" he spat.

Magnus looked at him.

"I am afraid you really dont have much choice Corso. I know about your past, who you once were, what you did. Join my pirate gang, or perish, just like Sonny Blackbones and his loyal men soon will. Once that is taken care of, I will make sure his son is also dealt with" The pirate said.

That made Corso laugh.

"You think you are smart enough to take on Sonny in such a battle? Have you no idea what allies Sonny has? Not even Duke Maddox or Technoid can hurt him without dire consequenses now. All thanks to you giving him and our team a flux of their own" Corso spat.

Magnus looked unphased.

"We will see soon enough if Sonny Blackbones will remain a leader, or if he will be back where he started out. I wont allow him to dig into my dealings with D'Jok, or what happened to the two snow kids or the galactik kids" he said.

Corso shook his head, suppressing a laugh.

"By hypnotizing his son, you really thought he would not find out? Sonny will tear you apart, limb for limb, if that has caused D'Jok any kind of is barely possible to have him calm down from thinking of it now." Corso warned him.

Magnus smirked.

"Wich is why you are here Corso. Sonny cares deeply for your safety. You are becoming my insurance Sonny wont act until I am ready for him. That is Sonnys worst weakness, his care for others. Time he learns, taking my position comes at a price, and a loss. How fitting, the loss will be the one he loves as a brother, or perhaps, his lover? There were rumours about the two of you,and how close you were. " he mused.

The last words made Corsos heart sink. This would be a real mess to get out of. But just the same, if he had to,he would fight to his last breath to keep Sonny and his friends safe from harm. Whatever Magnus had planned, spelled problems for the pirates. He only hoped Sonny could counter it, and quickly...

* * *

Sonny checked the time again. Where was Corso? There was no reason he would be this late. This as a routine scouting mission. And Corso knew how to outsmart Technoid. Something had to have happened. Something made him think of Magnus. Had the cursed ex pirate struck behind his back and done something to Corso? If so, he had added consideably to the list of reasons for a new confrontation. But as of now, they were still trying to find the facts. And now, the fact was that Corso had not reported in, indicting something was up. Sonny had to keep his worry under control and keep a level head.

"Artie, activate Corsos silent mode safety beacon. I got a feeling something has happened" Sonny said, as he continued to prepare his research for his departure to Akillian.

The news on Micro Ices health worried him. He had considered alerting D'Jok to it, but it would make both him and Mei worried. The two of them needed the time to work through things, and reach some kind of truce or agreement about their relationship or lack thereof. As young adults, they needed to figure this out on their own. This was not the time for him to play dad, he did his son and Mei a favour by letting them handle this on their own. Sonny studied the video file of Micro Ice collapsing on the ground, and how the breath seemed to leave his body. What was odd, was all gauges showed his flux was not leaving. It seemed to be syphoned off of him somehow. But unlike the abduction, the trail seemed to go cold right outside the holo trainer. Magnus had to have invented some kind of cloaking device to conceal the syphoning. Dame Simbai had reported that Micro Ice had stabilized 30 minutes later, and from his appetite, all seemed well. And Sonny was painfully aware, Mei was on Genesis, with D'Jok, doing her commercials, while D'Jok and Warren dealt with angry parents, blaming his son for their kids abduction. As she could not use her flux outside the pitch, Sonny had to be present next time they participated through holo connection to the snow kids on Akillian. And in doing so, D'Jok would figure something was wrong. Well, cross that bridge when he got there. Bennett tapped him on the shoulder, alerting him to the screen. Sonny gasped. These images was from Corsos cybernetic eye. He was inside Magnus lair, being given an offer of joining Magnus, as Sonnys days as leader was numbered according to Magnus. It made Sonny grit teeth. He could not be several places at once, he was needed on Akillian, to do the research there with Clamp, he was also needed on Genesis, to see to it that the galactik kids did not get hurt, and he needed to free Corso. Sonny put a palm to his forehead. Magnus was going to live to regret this. So far, he had been playing it nice, but that was about to end. Abduct any of his men, especially Corso, that was one sure way to get Sonny angry. And when angry, Sonny was more dangerous than ever, as he had a habit for having a mean streak to his persona. And that side was about to shine in all its glory.

"Bennett,I need to think this over, take over command for now" Sonny ordered.

Bennett saluted as Sonny left the bridge...

* * *

Sinedd and Sunja was out in Genesis forrest, and played with a ball in the amphitheatre. That laugh of his sisters..so carefree, like the child she was, while working on her skills as a footballer, he knew her flux had grown strong, but she also knew now to use it outside galactik football. Sunja sent him a hard pass.

Sinedd took it with his right foot, and lobbed it up, so he could head it towards their goal. Sunja laughed. Then, she ran to steal the ball. That was when disaster struck. Sunja tried to tackle him, and then, the same as Micro Ice. Her flux seemed to ignite on its own. And it was leaving her body fast. Sinedd was terrified at what he saw. He ran over to her, afraid to touch her.

"Sunja! Sunja! Are you ok?" he asked, on his knees next to his sister.

Sunja was screaming, and twisting, unable to get up on her own.

"Sinedd, help me! I am scared. And I cant move" she cried.

Sinedds hands was shaking, as he got his holo phone out. He dialled Clamps number.

As soon as he got connected, he turned the hologram, so Clamp could see what was going on. Clamp gasped on the other side.

"I need help Clamp. I cant deal with this" Sinedd cried.

Clamp nodded.

"I will connect you with Sonny, he is close by. I will ask him to come help you Sinedd"...

* * *

D'Jok smiled as he saw Mei. The new green dress looked dashing on her. Then again, Mei looked dashing in just about anything the way he saw it.

"You take my breath away Mei, did you know that?" he asked.

Mei smiled, somewhat shyly, when she heard that. She looked at D'Jok,who was wearing a tuxedo.

"You look real handsome yourself D'Jok,I am glad we both still know how to dress for a fancy dinner" she smiled.

That made both of them laugh, before they sat down at the reserved table. A robot, looking suspiciously alike one of the pirates bots, came to take their order. Mei looked suspicious on the robot as he left.

"Dont tell me, this is a place run by the pirates, so we will not be disturbed" she asked.

D'Jok shrugged at her comment, but as Mei noticed someone that looked suspiciously much like Stevens without his uniform, she knew.

"Dont worry, I am not mad about that. I kind of find it to be feeling a bit safer than other places" she admitted.

D'Jok nodded.

"This was Corsos suggestion.I was not sure about this place, I have never been here before" he admitted.

Mei chuckled.

"Well, considering who your father is, if this is their place, you should get some extra perks right" she said.

D'Jok laughed.

"What would you like to eat Mei, the entire menu looks quite exquisite" he he said.

Mei smiled, and took his hand, as they both looked at the menu...

* * *

Sonny, Bennett and Artie, had rushed to Genesis forrest along with Hawkins, The pirates goalie, when they learned what had happened to Sunja. Sonny made Sinedd tell his parents, and inform them, Sunja would fly to Akillian with Bennett imideately, for treatment under Clamp and Dame Simbai. Normally, he would have gone with her, but this was a warning sign that other galactik kids was also in danger. He had to stay put, and speak to Warren and D'Jok about it. All of this, the initial abduction, the pirates newfound flux, D'Jok being hypnotized by Magnus, and now, Corso being taken...There was no doubt anymore who this was aimed at. Magnus still held grudges, he wanted his position back. And Sonny would not step down without a fight. If they could coexist as two pirates organizations, there would be no problems, but Magnus was going for broke. The kidnap of Corso showed that. Sonny knew he had to outsmart the other pirate. Except, outsmarting Magnus was not going to be easy. You never sat as leader for the pirates as an organization, defying Technoid by being dumb. Life as a pirate required smart thinking, and being able to think outside the box. He was a natural at that. But this time, the problems had stacked up. Sonny made a mental list of priorities. First, he needed to have Corso freed. And this time, his sixth sense warned him, it was unwise to go in himself. Sonny went through in his mind, who would be the best team to undertake such a rescue mission. It had to be men that was loyal to him, who would not be swayed by Magnus abillity to talk big, and persuade them to join him instead. Before long, Sonny sent a message to a four man team to meet him back at the ship. He had a rescue mission for them. For now, Sonny decided to stay put at Genesis, close to his son and Mei. It was hard to tell why, but he sensed Mei could be next. And with her, he would be able to get some information. Sonny decided to let Mei and D'Jok have tonight to themselves, he would make contact in the morning...

* * *

Corso was lying on his back in his cell. That Magnus Blade was not going to give up just yet, that much was certain. For now, he was in the role as bait, to lure Sonny out of hiding. Wich would not happen. Magnus was underestimating Sonny for sure. And despite having no transmitter, Corso knew Sonny was aware of what was going on. All he could do, was wait...

* * *

A tiny ship, a small scout, from Black Mantas escort, had reached Magnus Blades strong hold. The four man team worked in silence to carry out Sonny Blackbones order. Free Corso, and bring him to Genesis as soon as possible. The team was equipped with state of the art equipment to carry out their task. Sonny had ordered radio silence. And to fool Magnus, leave a clone of Corso, with lots less knowledge, inside the strong hold. It would buy them time before they were found out. The team had managed to locate Corsos cell, and found the air vent. Silently, they removed the covers. Corso looked up as he saw them enter. He smirked as they signalled for him to be silent. In ancient Shiloh, he made a signal about Sonnys whereabouts. The pirates signalled back to him, he was not with them, he was safe at Genesis, waiting for his return. Corso looked at his clone with a grin. He had already scanned his cell several times over, and knew there was no cameras here. Magnus felt confident his new stronghold was impenetrable. As soon as the clone was in place, Corso made his way out the air vent, and they closed the vent behind them...

* * *

Sonny smirked as he was informed that Corso was on his way back. And he had vital information about the inside of Magnus stronghold. As the door to Black Mantas control room opened, Sonny looked up from the papers he was studying and smiled as Corso entered.

"Corso, there you are. Here I send you off to do a simple scouting mission, and you end up in Magnus Stronghold" he teased.

Corso had to smile too.

"Trust me Sonny, it was not something I did willingly. But you were right about the reason for the thefts of the new metal alloy Technoid made. His stronghold is fortified with it. It is light, but durable. it will be difficult to get in should we need to" Corso reported.

Sonny nodded as he heard that.

"Why is he fortifying his stronghold now? The Shiloh archipelago is big enough to be home to two fractions of pirates. There is no need to start a turf war" he mused.

Corso agreed, but having been there, he recalled what Magnus had told him.

"There is more to this Sonny. Whatever this is about, he is dead set to keep you from finding the truth about the abduction, D'Joks role in things. He is set on becoming the leader of the pirates again, and as he sees it, you are in his way. He plans to force you out of the way, by turning your men against you, and force you back to where you started. How he plans to do that, I dont know. He did not elaborate" Corso infomed.

Sonny rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His suspicions had been dead on, with what Magnus had planned on...this was another mad man speaking. And by now, the pirates had plenty of experience in dealing with mad men. But now that Corso was back, he had to organize a meeting with Warren and D'Jok, to evaluate the galactik kids. He quickly told Corso what had happened to Micro Ice and that Dame Simbai and Clamp was dealing, then he told of the panic stricken Sinedd, who had played with his sister, another of the abducted kids, and the same thing had happened to her. Sonny also mentioned the rapid development of the fluxes in the galactik kids bodies, and how this could be a concern that needed be addressed first.

Corso nodded as he listened to his friend. But he had a concern of his own.

"Sonny, so far, this has struck Micro Ice, because he played with flux during practice. Did Clamp say he did that during the entire practice?" Corso asked.

Sonny shook his head

"No,what I was told is that he only played with flux during a high jump. It may have been more straineous than we thougt for him, to trigger this reaction, but considering what happened to Sunja was the same, it may be an attempt to syphon flux from them, this time, in a cloaked state" Sonny thought.

Corso followed his trail of thought.

"And Sunja, Sinedds sister, was that straineous to her to tackle Sinedd?" he asked.

Sonny saw where this was leading.

"According to Sinedd, she attempted a slide tackle when it happened. It came out of nowhere. The tackle itself was pretty much plain and normal, and a child her age should not find that to be straineous at all. 30 minutes later, Bennett reported it to be normal again, but he still took her to Akillian,and Dame Simbai. Sinedd did get a good scare though." Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"So, what we can gather from this is as follows, seemingly less than straineous activities sets this off, it appears to be some kind of syphoning of flux, but one we cant see. It lasts up to 30 minutes before the player returns to normal. So far, we only have two reported incidents. How are we dealing with it as of now?" Corso wondered.

Sonny looked at him.

"For now,we had the parents permission to let Bennett take her to Akillian, to be put under Dame Simbais care. I have not yet informed D'Jok or Warren about this, but I need to. The other kids may suffer from the same, and Clamp and I need to meet, to come up with a solution to deal with this. For now, it is advicable that effected players has an inhibitor bracelet on their arm,until we find out more about what causes it. Micro Ice will not be happy, but for now,his health comes before his ego. I also need to speak to Duke Maddox, privately. We may need Technoid to stand by with medical equipment for this. If this is what I think it is, all the galactik football teams, not just the galactik kids, but all teams that played with flux in the paradisia cup, is in danger. Duke Maddox team is cyborgs, and does not have a flux right now, but we still need to check them. Magnus may have put in some failsafes we are unaware of" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"That leaves only one team left that may be able to stop Magnus from using a new flux mix to gain galactik control.I never thought a former pirate would go down this path, but it seems, power corrupts you. One team that did not have flux then during the paradisia cup and netherball, but do now. And I dont like this Sonny, but for this cup, you have to be an active player on the pitch, with the pirates. It leaves you exposed. And also, we will have no choice Sonny, Magnus made it for us. He has a plan with this. And he may have flux samples from all teams, except the pirates now that it has been cleaned up. Now, more than ever, It is us, the pirates, who has to protect the entire galaxy, we are the last barrier between continued freedom, and a tyrant ruling the galaxy"...


	10. Chapter 10

D'Jok smiled as he stretched out in the bed. When he turned, he found himself in a cascade of long,soft brown hair. And a pair of sparkling blue eyes looked at him. Mei, his own angel, who had pulled him in many a time when he acted stupid. Mei, his soulmate, and his girlfriend. It had fallen into place so naturally. Maybe the bottle of champagne had done the trick. But he did not recall ordering it. But just the same, the champagne was of fine quality, the expensive kind. And they had enjoyed the bubbles, wich had led to a celebration in Meis bedroom. An all night celebration it turned out. Meis hand gently touched his face.

"D'Jok, are you awake?" she asked.

D'Jok closed his eyes again.

"No, I am having a great dream, an angel is lying by my side, and I could swear she claimed to be my girlfriend. This dream is so real, I dont want to wake up" D'Jok declared.

Mei chuckled.

"Then I believe we are having the same dream. I could swear I dream a red head footballer lying next to me, and not speaking about football all the time. I also seem to recall, he was very emotional hours earlier, professing his undying love to me, feeling like crying when I agreed to be his girlfriend again, and we promised to talk about our issues, rather than act out on our egoes" Mei said, before she leaned in to kiss him.

D'Jok felt great. If this was what they meant with the expression 'seventh heaven' he would stay in bed all day, and never leave.

But a buzz on the door, ended that idea.

"Who is it?" he wondered.

Mei got up first, and put her bathrobe on, and went to see. After all, it was her room. She opened the door, and in came two men.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" D'Jok said and pulled the covers around himself, slightly embarrassed at being caught in this situation.

"Maybe we should ask you the same thing D'Jok, being this is Meis room, and we came to speak to her. But you being here, is just a bonus. It saves us time going to your room too" Corso said with a grin.

Mei looked at them.

"What is going on? You two would not be here if not for a very good reason" she stated.

Sonny nodded.

"You are right Mei, you both better sit down. There has been some..development since you returned to Genesis. I have spoken with Clamp and Dame Simbai. Micro Ices flux has acted strange since the abduction. I have seen the video of what happened. And the reason for this visit is, Mei, have you been experiencing odd symptoms?" Sonny asked, as he sat down next to D'Jok.

Mei looked confused. And Corso noticed.

"From her reaction Sonny, not yet. But we best keep an eye on things from now on, a very close eye" he said.

Sonny agreed. D'Jok felt as if he was being kept in the dark.

"Dad, please, explain what happened" he asked.

Sonny turned towards his son, and put both hands on his shoulders.

"It is not just Micro Ice D'Jok, it happened with a member of your team, The galactik kids too. Same exact symptoms, and the exact same duration of time. Clamp and I will be isolating ourselves in the lab at Akillian to work out a solution. If you will need any help during that time, Corso will be your contact. But I also need your help D'Jok. Since this is a team you coach alongside Warren, I need to meet with you and Warren, as soon as possible, to fill you in on symptoms. If it has happened to one galactik football player on the kids team, it is only a matter of time before the next member is struck. There is also the suspicion, Magnus Blade is behind this. Or rather,the pirates know him under that name, you snow kids would know him under a different name, Lord Phoenix" Sonny explained.

"But Sonny, that is impossible. Lord Phoenix died on Paradisia, when it exploded" Mei argued.

Sonny looked at her with a small smile.

"Ask your team mate Thran about that, or Clamp Mei. They will both tell you that he survived and was rescued by the pirates when we returned to investigate. Clamps trip to Shiloh, was actually a very dangerous trip to Paradisia under quarrantine. I was not sure it was wise to bring Clamp, and Thran was a stowe away. But I am glad they were both there. Or things could have gone severely wrong. Long story short, Magnus was duped, to create multi flux, wich was pulled from all the stadiums, during the matches there. Clamp managed to create an anti multi flux for that version. But it is possible Magnus has stashed away samples of the fluxes of each team. If so, whatever team he chooses to be his team for the tournament, will be given an advantage over all the others, including Duke Maddox cyborg team, wich was taken from Magnus. As pirates, we know he is seeking revenge, for many things. Last time, he sided with the pirates, to even the score with the one that double crossed him. But since he has now returned to being a pirate, he has made a clear decision, he wants to lead the pirates all by himself, and also, the galaxy. For now, the only registered team that has a flux he may not have, are the pirates. We will play all out and set our sights on the finals match. However, with two of the abducted players already struck, we need to check you Mei, if you will let us,to make sure your flux is not affected. As for you D'Jok, I need a private meeting with you and Warren, to fill you in on what to look for, and possibly, some samples of the kids fluxes. I know it is a mixed flux team for now, but that will not always be the case. At some time, they will play for their respective planets." Sonny said.

D'Jok looked at him, clearly thinking.

"Dad, besides Micro Ice, who is the player from The galactik kids team affected?" he asked.

Sonny looked at him.

"It was Sunja, Sinedds little sister" he said.

D'Joks mouth litterally fell open.

"She was the last to join the team. And the first to be struck with this phenomenon. It makes no sense" he said.

Sonny looked at him.

"Flux comes to the ones that deserve it D'Jok, and through teamplay,I would think Aarch has already told you about this. Sunja plays her heart out on the pitch, aspiring to be as good as Sinedd. That is more than enough cause to make this happen" Sonny pointed out.

D'Jok nodded.

"I will call Warren right away"...

* * *

On Aarch Academy, Sunja was getting fed up with being bedridden. Micro Ice, who was also restricted from training much of the time, spent time with her, Sinedd and also Thran. To entertain her, Thran had started to share his story from when he had gone with the pirates as a stowe away. Clamp had come into the room and verified the story, to the part he knew.

"You were lucky Sonny was in a good mood when you came out of hiding you know. You could have ended up locked up in the ships holding cell" Clamp said.

Thran was not bothered.

"Sonny is like the coolest guy ever. I had a talk with him, afterwards, where he took me to the ships galley to have something to eat. And he off course wanted to know why I had snuck on board. So, I told him. It is always best to be truthful with the pirates, I think" Thran said.

Micro Ice was scratching his head.

"I start getting the feeling, I got the most brutal treatment onboard. And I was the one that is said to have saved his life" he pouted.

Sinedd looked at him.

"You saved Sonny Blackbones. That is a bit hard to believe for a guy like you Micro Ice" he said, looking suspicious at the raven haired striker.

Clamp looked at them.

"That story is infact true Sinedd. I heard this story from Corso and Sonny later on. The robots following Sonny and Micro Ice were under Bleylocks orders. He knew I only knew part of the formula to create Meta flux. Sonny was the real mastermind behind the creation, but since we worked together on the project,none of us ever told of who managed to create it. Bleylock wanted Sonny taken, to force him to create more. I dont think he would have been successful with that though. Who Sonny once was, when we worked together, and now, as the chief of the pirates, is worlds apart. I would say he is a genious in his own right, with a very strong moral and sense of justice. If he sees you as his friend, he will do everything in his power to keep you safe. Infact, we are waiting to hear from him, when he will arrive here. Sonny has requested total isolation in the lab for himself and me. But he will come to see the two of you first." he smiled.

Sunja smiled.

"I think Sonny is a real hero" she said.

This made Sinedd smile.

"I would agree. He is not at all the way he is described in the news" he mused.

Micro Ice nodded.

"He is something else. Did you guys know, Sonny actually is real good at magnetbording?" he asked.

Tia had come into the room too, and caught the last comment.

"Who did you say was good at magnetbording?" she asked.

As soon as she was told they were all speaking about Sonny Blackbones, she had to smile.

"I can imagine. He is a really amazing kind and very polite. But I suspect, he may not be pleasant if you threaten or hurt anyone he cares I went with them, Artie told me something, when I was being down. He said Sonny would take care of everything" she said.

Clamp smiled.

"When we worked together, we had a saying among us. Whatever happened, he would always pull through. And that is true" he smiled.

"Maya must be real lucky to have made a child like D'Jok with him" Sinedd said thoughtfully.

Micro Ice looked at him.

"Maya is not D'Joks real mother. D'Jok learned from Maya what happened when I went with the pirates. That was a close call. D'Jok could have become an orphan for real that day" he said.

Tia looked thoughtful.

"I really hope D'Jok gets help with all this. He is being blamed for something that is not his fault.I wonder why it seems all this has something to do with him. Just look at what happened, and who was taken. It all ties back to D'Jok. Or is someone out to get D'Jok to get to Sonny somehow?" Tia wondered,

Thran smirked.

"Maybe it is time we snow kids and galactik kids do some investigation ourselves, to help D'Jok?"...

* * *

He was nervous. And he could not understand why. He was proud of his father, but having his hero and father meet for the first time..this made him nervous. He felt Meis hand on his arm. Her blue eyes had a shade to them now. She had told Corso and Sonny about some rather disturbing dreams she had, only, they did not feel like dreams. Corso had taken a small sample of her flux, simply for Sonny and Clamp to study it closer. Warren was already present at the holotrainer, and approached them, as he saw the four approach them. Both Corso and Sonny wore hoods, to shield themselves. Sonnys wanted poster showed how he would look from all angles. So, the hood was necessary. The pirates had also told, despite it not showing, there was also a wanted poster for Corso, also with a substansial bounty for his capture. So both of them proceeded with caution. As Warren approached them, they pulled down their hoods.

Warren smiled.

"I can definately see the family resemblence now. It is an honor to shake your hand Sonny" he said as he took Sonnys hand in his.

The pirate smiled at this recognition.

"And you Warren. It feels good to meet someone just and neutral, but preferably under better circumstances" Sonny said.

Warren could see the looks in their eyes.

"Yes Sonny, it is not the best time for your will probably grow worse before it stabilizes" The lightnings striker said.

Sonny nodded.

"It has already happened" Sonny handed Warren a small disc with a videofile.

"These are two separate video files. What they have in common, is both players are among the ones abducted. Clamp and I will conduct a more thorough research on this, but we need new flux samples of the galactik kids" Sonny explained.

Warren frowned, then he led them to his office where he played up the video file. When he saw what happened to Micro Ice and Sunja,he appeared shocked.

"I have seen this, once before" he said.

Sonny and Corso looked at eachother.

"Can you please tell us more Warren?"...

* * *

Almost done. And Corso was still in his cell. Not willing to talk to him, but he expected that much. Corso had been Sonnys closest friend for so long. It would take time to convince him to switch sides. As for Sonny, it would be for the best of everyone if Technoid caught him. Sonny had been running from his past for a long time. Even a pirate had to stop running and face the music at one point. It was not sure he would see it that way, but by being taken by Technoid, Magnus thought Sonny stood a better chance at a normal life with his son. Technoid could put an electronic monitor on him, and keep an eye on him all the time. With a five million standard unit bounty for him, they did not want him dead. Sonny was worth more alive than dead, even to technoid. In the back of his mind, Magnus still hoped he could stop Sonny from going after him. If Sonny was taken prisoner by Technoid, he could not act as leader for the pirates, and he had Corso imprisoned already. And Bennett was not the leader type. By removing Sonnys direct predecessor, there was no one to challenge him for the leadership of the pirates, and later on, the galactik emperor. Magnus refused to see the obvious. He was every bit as powerhungry and obsessed with it as Bleylock and Harris had been. And he fully believed, once his plan was put in action, when he had all the power from the flux he would syphon due to technology stolen from the people on Xzion, The lightnings planet. His scientists was mixing it. And he had still small samples from all the other football teams as well. Mixing this new multiflux was one thing. But the galactik kids, they had a bigger part in his plan. He would succeed where all had failed before him.

"No one will stop me, not even Sonny Blackbones and his pirates"...

* * *

Warren had explained all about what he knew from the phenomenon seen in the videos, as it had first appeared in Xzion, his homeplanet,when he was very young.

"This was before my time as a galactik football champion. We were just playing with the ball, in the forrest. All according to the flux societys rules off course. We looked up to our football team, in a time, where galactik war was ravanging many planets. The flux wars was truly devestating to many planets. Mine included. Football became the go to thing to find light in dark times. I was a kid with big dreams. I got my chance, because a player on the lightnings team got struck with a mysterious condition. Much like the one we see here" Warren said.

Sonny nodded.

"Did anyone know what caused it?" he asked.

Warren nodded.

"A virus Sonny. Not one spread like a normal bacteria or virus would. This one was deliberately planted. Too small to see, even under a regular dad was a doctor, and this virus plagued him for years" he said.

Sonny looked at him.

"Could we be looking at some form of nanotechnology here?" he asked.

Warren smiled sadly.

"Yes Sonny, it is called NanoX technology. Are you familiar with the term?"Warren asked.

Sonny nodded.

"Corso, get Bennett and Artie to pull up all information available on Nanox technology, and share it with Clamp. We got plenty of work ahead of us"...

* * *

Duke Maddox was looking at reports, when his assistant put forth a video file. It was from Genesis forrest. Duke Maddox could see the former Shadows player now turned Snow kid again, with a child, playing with a ball in the forrest. Boring, not the kind of childs play that interested him. He was about to turn it off, when the child fell and seemed to have a simmilar reaction to what had happened when the shadows lost their flux. But what happened next made him grit teeth. The tall man in the red jacket, black pants and boots..he would recognize him everywhere. Sonny bent down and placed the child in a small ship, along with one of his men and Sinedd. Where the small ship took off to, he had no idea, but the cameras were locked on Sonny. He seemed to be worried about this, then, he talked to the two men with him. And they left. Duke Maddox slammed his hands in the table.

"I dont know if this is the pirates doing, but I want Sonny Blackbones found and brought here, alive. If he resists arrest, sedate him, but bring him here unharmed. He knows something about this thing that happened to the kid, and I want him, at all cost" Duke Maddox yelled.

His assistant barely dared speak as he heard that.

"You think it is his doing, Your Excellency?" he asked.

Duke Maddox shook his head.

"This is not Sonnys doing, but he may know more about who, and where to find the real villain. This time, use all available tools, but find Sonny Blackbones, and have him taken. That is an order" Duke Maddox yelled.

As soon as his assistant left, Duke Maddox face softened some.

Duke Maddox was looking at reports, when his assistant put forth a video file. It was from Genesis forrest. Duke Maddox could see the former Shadows player now turned Snow kid again, with a child, playing with a ball in the forrest. Boring, not the kind of childs play that interested him. He was about to turn it off, when the child fell and seemed to have a simmilar reaction to what had happened when the shadows lost their flux. But what happened next made him grit teeth. The tall man in the red jacket, black pants and boots..he would recognize him everywhere. Sonny bent down and placed the child in a small ship, along with one of his men and Sinedd. Where the small ship took off to, he had no idea, but the cameras were locked on Sonny. He seemed to be worried about this, then, he talked to the two men with him. And they left. Duke Maddox slammed his hands in the table.

"I dont know if this is the pirates doing, but I want Sonny Blackbones found and brought here, alive. If he resists arrest, sedate him, but bring him here unharmed. He knows something about this thing that happened to the kid, and I want him, at all cost" Duke Maddox yelled.

His assistant barely dared speak as he heard that.

"You think it is his doing, Your Excellency?" he asked.

Duke Maddox shook his head.

"This is not Sonnys doing, but he may know more about who, and where to find the real villain. This time, use all available tools, but find Sonny Blackbones, and have him taken. That is an order" Duke Maddox yelled.

As soon as his assistant had left his office, Duke Maddox softened.

"You did not cause this Sonny, that much I know, but you either have your suspicion or you know who and what. If I have to tear Genesis apart to find you this time, I will. But you will share what you know about this. And perhaps also other things, so peace can be reestablished in the galaxy. That is a promise"...

The meeting was over. Corso looked at Sonny.

"We cant stay much longer Sonny. Technoid patrols will be upon this area within the hour, and you are exposed enough as it is. Better get back to the safety of The Black Manta while we still can" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"Corso is right. We need to go to Akillian as soon as possible. With these new flux samples from the holotrainer, we should be able to figure out what is happening with those kids, and reverse it. After that..."

Corso saw how Sonnys fists clenched.

"Easy Sonny. We will get him. Right now, you need to stay focused. Have team two navigate to Akillian. I got just the solution to make you regain your focus" he said.

Sonny sent him a small smile, before he nodded. Then, he turned to D'Jok.

"D'Jok, for now, it is buisness as normal for you. If you need, talk to Warren, I will leave Warren my contact code,should he feel the need. If any direct contact is needed, Corso will come meet you" he said.

D'Jok hugged him.

"Be careful Dad,I dont know why, but this Magnus Blade..I get the feeling he is far more dangerous than you are letting on. Dont get hurt and stay safe" he said.

Sonny placed his arms around his son, pulling him close. Where they were now, there was an eerie sense of danger to the whole situation. He could not even indicate to his son when they would meet next time.

"If not before, I will see you on the pitch Son, the pirates wont be going easy on anyone this year, not with our flux. Prepare to fight for every ball" he smiled.

Then, he turned, and with one last wave, Sonny and Corso silently left the club galactik and headed back to their ship...

* * *

In flight, Sonny once again pulled up the information he had on the nanoX technology. It was complicated. And very hard to trace. Sonny was not sure he and Clamp had the right equipment for this task at Akillian.

"Corso, have a ship sent from depot z with the latest lab equipment, to Clamps lab. It is a prioritized shipment, and it goes out under full stealth mode" Sonny ordered.

Corso nodded and started typing the order , he got a response.

"Our man at the depot is asking what the equipment is meant for" he reported.

"Reserach on NanoX" Sonny replied.

Corso sent the message. But as another reply came back, he grew pale.

"Sonny, this is no ordinary nano technology at all. This thing is alive, and if it is infested in a human host body, it takes over, slowly. If Magnus used this..."

Sonny nodded,with a serious expression on his face.

"If anything happens, to Mei, Micro Ice or even the kids, not only will it force D'Jok to become a pirate fulltime, it will destroy any chance he has to have a normal life." he said.

Corso could sense the anger building in his friend.

"Has anyone ever recovered from infection with this that we know of?" Corso asked.

Sonny shook his head.

"Technoid had some research going on that was meant to do just that. I will have Artie look for it in the databases. This is something Clamp should be able to create,this is his field of expertise" Sonny mused.

Corso grinned.

"I thought you both researched flux, more spefically, meta flux, and synthetic flux" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"Then ask yourself Corso, why have an expert in nano technology and an ace within biological technology partner up for a project, to create a synthetic flux?" he said.

Corso thought about it for a moment, then, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"In Shilohs name, he tricked us on Paradisia. He planned the same insane crazy as Bleylock and Harris before him. Whatever happened to Magnus, to make him flip like this? If I got this right, what Magnus has, is a biological weapon of war, one we have no defence against" Corso exclaimed.

Sonny nodded.

"We reached the same conclusion Corso. And we have to get on top of this situation, before more kids get sick. The more rapid their fluxes grow stronger, the more rapid the nanoX technology is infesting in them. All the abducted snow kids will be in inhibitor bracelets to their flux, and also, barred from the competition. To replace Mei and Micro Ice, two of the pirates players from our reserve team will take their places for now. Have Aliya, and Zack come to Akillian. I will brief them there. Also, cancel all Meis contracts, by any means necessary, and have her return to Akillian. All available crew from the lab on Shiloh east 22 is also ordered to Akillian. And tell them to hurry it up" Sonny said, as he walked away.

Corso executed the orders without saying a word. Sonnys very demeanour told him all he needed to know. It was not just D'Joks future and freedom on the line here, it was the very life of kids,not to mention, Micro Ice and Mei.

Corso closed his hand around a medallion he had around his neck. No one knew what was inside but him, but never ever would he let a child die again.

"I could not save you princess, but come hell or high water, never will another child die and I stand a helpless bystander" he muttered..

* * *

Sonny looked out the porthole in his cabin, as The Black Manta was going full speed towards Akillian. His thoughts were many and most unpleasant. What had happened to Magnus when he was forced into exile? Sure he had claimed to hold grudges against him for the past on Paradisia, but then, he needed his help. Why would that be, if he had all this unknown and most dangerous technology? It made no , he thought of how his own son was entangled in this mess. This could mean the end of his life with the snow kids as he knew it. If anyone of these kids died, Mei or even Micro Ice as a result of this NanoX..Sonny knew it would be for his son like it once was for him, loosing all the near and dear ones, his purpose in life, his family. And what would be left then? Unfortunately, only one thing, the last thing he wanted for him. If he had to go on the run,he would have to stay with the pirates. And that was a life in constant danger. If this was Magnus plan, Sonny had to counterstrike first. Sonny considered the available options. And with a heavy heart, he knew what he had to do was one of the most dangerous things he had done in years. To Magnus, it would feel like a new betrayal, as he still lived by the old pirates ways. Sonny on the other hand, had replaced many of the old rules, to make life better for his men. And this time,he had to enter an unlikely alliance. Corso would be pissed off, but the options was limited. Sonny sat down at his desk and turned on his personal laptop, wich he then entered a scrambled stealth mode 5 call on.

"Yes?" Duke Maddox was grumpy as he replied.

"Always in a good mood Your Excellency" Sonny greeted.

"You! How dare you intertupt my dinner again Sonny! This is beginning to become a habit" Duke Maddox grumbled.

"Then I wont waste time with chitchat.I take it you already reviewed the cameras in Genesis forrest?" Sonny said.

Duke Maddox nodded.

"How is the child?" he asked.

"Recovered from everything within the hour. Wich is what makes me curious your Excellency. Are you aware of the workings of a technology called NanoX?" Sonny asked.

Duke Maddox had paled.

"Who is the devil behind all this Sonny, if you know, you must share this information. It is not about pride, but the safety of the entire galaxy" Duke Maddox managed.

"That much we agree upon Your Excellency. And true, I do know who it is, but I will not turn him over until I have solid proof to back that up. As of now, that scum is pulling the same game Bleylock started, and Harris continued. What I suggest Your Excellency, is a temporary alliance, between Technoid and The pirates, to stop a new Galactik War and another madman from attempting to control the entire galaxy" Sonny said.

Duke Maddox seemed to think for a second.

"Tell me what you had in mind, and I will see what I can do"...

* * *

_Oh the horror. To win,the pirates has to join forces with Technoid. What could po__ssibly be Sonnys plan now. And what will happen to Mei,Micro Ice and the galactik kids. Will they survive this, or is this the end of their football careers. And what about DJok. Will he still be able to have a life with his friends, and football, or will fate step in and force his hand, like it did with his father, forcing DJok to be the next generation of pirates. Will Sonny be able to do what he always does, or has the great pirate chief finally met his match in Magnus Blades scheme. All this will soon be revealed._


	11. Chapter 11

D'Jok looked at Mei. She could not understand why all of her contracts seemed to have been cancelled, but she was politely told, that they had been compensated for her loss, and so would she be. She realised who had the resources to pull this off, but was still confused. Why would the pirates act like this?

D'Jok knew this had to tie in with the abduction somehow. He wished he knew more. Sonny had seemed very tense last time before they took off for Akillian. Normally, he hid his worries well, but this time, he failed at it. And now, Mei had to return to Akillian, indefinitely, since Clamp had called and told here there could be a potential problem with her flux. It was not like they did not expect it, but still, it came about so suddenly, and with no prior warnings. Mei had packed her bags. They had seen the video file of what had happened with Micro Ice, and even D'Jok understood the need for precautions. But it also felt unfair. He would be left here alone, to fight the angry parents, who still were sceptical about him, because of what had happened to the kids. Like this somehow was his fault. D'Jok wished he could tell them the truth, that this was a former pirate who had decided to come back in the game, but this was impossible. He blamed the former pirate, the searchlight would undoubtedly turn to his father and his men, and the last thing D'Jok wanted, was to make things difficult for his father.

As soon as Mei was packed, he followed her to the astro port.

Mei had a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry D'Jok, I wish you could come with me..." she sighed as she took his hand.

D'Jok looked down.

"Me too Mei, but I am needed right here for now. Clamp said I could practice through holo connection, the same way you did, so we can get this sorted out. And we can off course call eachother" he tried with a small smile.

Mei nodded, with a small smile herself.

"I know this is for my own good, I hope you dont mind Sinedd being there alone with me,You know, I am worried about the jealousy we both used to have in the past.." she said.

D'Jok swallowed a lump in his throat. Mei had just addressed a big issue for the both of them. Jealousy.

"Remember what we agreed upon. Whenever we got an issue, instead of being suspicious, and jealous, we agreed to talk about it, and be honest" he tried.

Mei nodded.

"This will be our first and biggest test D'Jok. With all that is going on, the possible threat from the abduction and all, I feel kind of alone, and a bit isolated with this. I know Sonny wants the best for all of us, but are you sure this it the best way to go about things?" she asked, not sounding like her normal confident self.

"I know my dad Mei, he would not do this if not for very good reasons. You saw him when we met with Warren. I cant recall ever having seen him this worried before" D'Jok admitted.

Mei nodded.

"Corso too, and since I know Corso better than I know Sonny,I could tell this was serious. Clamp too looked worried, I am not sure what they have found already, but for Sonny to take these steps, it has to be something serious right?" she asked.

D'Jok nodded.

"The shadows match in in one week, we will meet in the holo trainer. Do your best, and play your hardest. And we will show just why we are the three times galactik football champions" he tried.

That comment made Mei smile, before she kissed him.

"Now there is my guy, the red headed striker who happens to be the son of you know who" she smiled, being very conscious of where they were.

Mentioning Sonnys name here would attract attention wich could lead to the pirates hideout being found.

D'Jok waved as the shuttle took off for Akillian. Then, he headed for Club Galactik and todays training session with Warren and the galactik kids...

Clamp looked at the new equipment in his lab. All of this was state of the art, he had to wonder if the pirates had made it themselves or stolen it. No matter, it would now be part of his and Sonnys isolated lab until they could crack the code to take care of the problem with the NanoX virus that Mei, Micro Ice and the Galactik kids was infected with. It seemed Micro Ices flux was either weaker than Meis, or it was something in the male genetic of Micro Ice that had made him be the first to develop the problem. Clamp wondered, could this Magnus Blade have remotely controlled it all from a distance? He recalled the trip back from Paradisia. He knew him as Lord Phoenix, but Sonny and the other pirates had constantly addressed him by a different name, Magnus Blade. Clamp had not asked, but what he had understood was that the pirates had a past with Magnus, more spesifically, Sonny and Corso seemed to know him well. And they had both acted on edge around him. It had seemed Sonny tried to determine if he could trust him or not. It had turned out he could , there was like a glimpse in his mind, maybe it had slipped his conscious mind, but his subconscious had caught it, and now brought it to his attention. When they broke free of Paradisias orbit,There had been something in Magnus eyes, a sad look, almost as if he missed his time with the pirates. Clamp decided, if time and opourtunity rose, he would ask Sonny about it. He saw the pirates that arrived first with the equipment, had started to assemble it where they had been directed. Sonny had asked it be put up where it could cause no real harm to others, should such a thing as an explosion occur. Dame Simbai had come to see him.

"I just heard from Mei, the shuttle is arriving in the astro port in about 15 minutes. I sent Rocket to pick her up. Have you heard from Sonny yet?" she asked.

Clamp nodded.

"Sonny should be here about the same time. He said to start as soon as we have spoken with Mei, Micro Ice, Sinedd and Sunja about what needs to happen. I think Sonny knows something about what is behind this, and it is not good news. He seemed tense when I spoke with him" Clamp informed.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"I understand this is some kind of nano engineered virus?" she asked.

Clamp nodded.

"Yes, this would be within my field of expertise. Because this is a technology that mixes into biological science, Sonny and I have to isolate ourselves, and work in protective suits with this. And it brings a strange form of deja vu to me, as this was how things started with the cursed meta flux, until I created a container to allow us out of the suits" he said.

Dame Simbai looked him. Clamp looked very old all of a sudden,like the past had come back to haunt him somehow.

"Are you feeling ok Clamp?" she asked, slightly worried.

Clamp sighed.

"Not really, I will be fine, as soon as Sonny fills me in" he said.

A buzzing sound over their heads, hovering over the pitch in tulstra tower, alerted them, Sonny and the pirates of the Black Manta had arrived.

Moments later, the big ship had landed on the pitch, staying in stealth mode for security reasons. The hatch opened, and out came Sonny. Behind him, came Corso, with some special equipment to do the most dangerous testing.

Clamp greeted him.

"I got the ones you asked for gathered in the briefing went to pick up Mei at the astro port, she should have arrived by now" Clamp said.

Sonny nodded.

"Good, Corso, have the equipment set up, and prepare to stand guard. Until Clamp and I can figure out a solution, no one will enter the lab after we are in. It is under lockdown around the clock." he said.

Corso nodded, and made way to the lab. Sonny went with Clamp, to collect the flux samples he could get and fill in the affected parties as to the procedure that would take place...

D'Jok threw himself into the play with the kids, head on. It took his mind of all the other stresses he had. At least Sunjas and Sinedds parents did not blame him for this. He had been nowhere near her when she got sick. And Sinedd had told him, Sonny had acted quickly, putting an inhibitor bracelet on his sisters arm, and personally carried her to the ship, where Bennett had taken them to Akillian for treatment under Dame Simbais care. Bennett had remained on Akillian as Sonny and the others had made their way there shortly after the meeting with Warren. To hear Warren speak of how he had come to have his first chance with the Ligtnings, and galactik football, had been a real eye opener for D'Jok. He had not ever thought of how the flux wars, wich they off course had heard about in school, but never actually experienced, had left many planets devastated and many were still rebuilding after the wars. But hearing Warren speak of the nanoX virus, whom had killed other Lightnings players, after being infected as part of a Technoid experiment,only, they did not know it was led by Technoid at the time, It had been Duke Maddox predecessor who did this, in an attempt to rule supreme over the galaxy, D'Jok had realised even more just how swollen his own head had been. He recalled his first meeting with Warren one on one, and the advice he had been given.

"The important thing, is the game, and nothing but the game. You have to forget who you are, or rather, who people would like you to be".

Warrens words rung in his mind, and D'Jok was unfocused.

"D'Jok, stop daydreaming and get in the game, you will cause your team to loose" Sounded Warrens voice.

That made him get back to the here and now moment. D'Jok caught the ball from little Mina, a young lightnings girl, and went for the goal. And from the left, came Tommy, a young akillian boy, to intercept.

"No way, this goal is mine" said D'Jok as he jumped.

Tommy attempted to follow. He ignited his flux, and to D'Joks horror, he saw how Tommys flux started to flicker, the same way as it did with Micro Ice and Sunja.

"Tommy, no! Warren, get us out of here, hurry!"D'Jok yelled.

As soon as he had landed, the holo trainer dissolved around them. Tommy was on the ground, twisting.

"Someone help me" he yelled.

D'Jok sat down and put his hands around the boys waist.

"Just lie still.." he tried.

"Tommy!" a voice screamed from the door.

D'Jok looked up. It was Tommys mother, and she looked crossed.

Warren approached them.

"How is he D'Jok?" Warren asked.

"I got no idea, I am not a doctor, or scientist" D'Jok said.

Tommys mother had reached them. And she looked cross at D'Jok.

"This is all your fault D'Jok. If I had not let him practice with you and the snow kids, none of this would have ever happened" she said.

D'Jok felt like he had been punched in the face.

"How is any of this my fault Ma'am? I was not in charge of the holotrainer" he defended himself.

Tommys mother did not care.

"All those abducted had something to do with you. Mei, your former girlfriend, Micro Ice, your best friend, and then, our precious kids, whom formed a team under your leadership. And here you go, endangering them, by letting them play with an energy that is harmful to their bodies,and you claim you are not responsible? I will alert police to this matter, as this is reckless from a football star of your stature" she spat.

Warren could see this would not end D'Jok was about to go all defensive. As soon as he had this all taken care of, and the kids sent home to their parents, he would need to contact Sonny. This had all marks of growing ugly and fast.

"I will call an ambulance Ma'am, and have Tommy taken to the emergency room.D'Jok, will you please alert the parents that practice is cancelled and call in Artegor? I will deal with matters here" he said.

D'Jok could only nodd, as he walked into his office with heavy steps. He had a sinking feeling in his gut, if he ever wondered what it was like being in trouble with the law, he was about to experience that, first hand. He sighed as he sat down to call Artegor Nexus first...

At Akillian,Sonny had just finished speaking with Micro Ice, Sunja, Mei and Sinedd about the situation. All four of the players had a serious look on their faces.

"So, until further notice, we cant play in the competition?" Mei asked, feeling very insecure.

Sonny nodded.

"Until we can be sure that we can isolate this virus that you seem to have been injected with, yes. Do any of you have any kind of memories about this happening?" he asked.

Both Mei and Micro Ice shook their head. But Sunja frowned.

"We were given a special kind of pill every morning, before going to practice. We were told it was some kind of vitamin.." she said.

Sonny looked at her.

"Could you tell me more about how that pill looked like? Colour, shape, and if possible, how it tasted?" he asked softly.

Sunja seemed to think.

"It had two colours, purple and pink, in an octagon shape. It tasted funny, I cant really describe it.." she said.

Sonny seemed to think, then he grabbed a small notepad, and roughly made a drawing. As soon as he was done, he showed it to Sunja.

"Something like this?" he asked.

"Uhu" Sunja nodded.

Sonny tried to smile.

"Thank you Sunja, you have been very helpful" he said.

"Does that mean I can become a pirate like you when I grow up?" Sunja asked and in a way only an innocent child could ask.

That made Sonny smile for a second. He was not going to crush her hopes just yet.

"We will see, being a pirate is not as fun as it sounds like, it is dangerous" he said softly.

Then, he said good bye, and went with Corso, who had been waiting for him. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Corso grabbed his arm.

"I heard the description of the pill and I saw your reaction Sonny. Before you take another step into that lab, please, in Shilohs name, tell me, we are not dealing with a hybrid of what I think we are" Corso said, and the look in his eyes begged for Sonny not to confirm his suspicion.

Sonny sighed.

"Believe me Corso, I wish I could say that for certain, but you know me too well. You know exactly what I was thinking by hearing that description" Sonny said.

Corso took the notepad and looked at Sonnys drawing.

"He must have a hidden lab in the strong hold. I never saw anything while I was there" Corso said.

Sonny nodded.

"Is your clone free to roam about the strong hold?" he asked.

Corso smiled.

"If the clone agrees to go against Sonny Blackbones and his men, I would say yes. It seemed Magnus wants to break the pirates today that way, from inside" he mused.

Sonny nodded.

"Then lets throw him a bone shall we? Remotely program the clone to follow your behaviour. That should give you something to do while you guard the lab. Clamp and I start the isolation in two hours" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"As you wish Sonny"...

Duke Maddox was in shock when he read the police report. D'Jok was a tripple galactik champion, and now, he was accused of hurting the kids he coached?

The police was asking permission to put out an arrest warrant for D'Jok. And the mother of the child, was already giving an interview with Callie Mystic. She was rambling on about an abduction, whom supposedly had been solved by Sonny Blackbones and his men, a mysterious disease, wich had struck her son while D'Jok was holding him in his arms as the holo trainer was taken down. The woman also spoke of this having happened to Mei, Micro Ice and the galactik kids. All persons directly connected to D'Jok. Duke Maddox sat in deep thoughts. Could this be Sonnys doing? It seemed unlikely. This was not Sonnys operations now days. Sonny seemed more taken with ridding the galaxy of dangers connected to flux, and also to keep the galaxy stabile. It was also known to Technoid now, Sonny and his men had the protection of the Flux society, as they had taken on the role of one of their investigative teams. From the flux society, Sonny and the pirates was held in high regard. Duke Maddox was wondering, as he pulled up the wanted poster for both Sonny Blackbones and also, Magnus Blade, side by side, on a separate screen. Was the galaxy now dealing with two fractions of pirates? It could certainly seem so. And from his call with Sonny the other night, Duke Maddox felt more compelled to believe that to be the case. Sonny stood to gain nothing by lying about his and his mens affairs. And with his sense of justice, Duke Maddox knew, the only reason Sonny would ask Technoids help in the matter, was because it was needed to protect the galaxy. He looked at both wanted posters. Who to believe in? His nemesis, Sonny Blackbones, who had over and over been proven truthful in his claims, or his masked Predecessor, Magnus Blade, the most ruthless pirate in the galaxy? If he was to follow his gut feeling, he felt like trusting Sonnys words. But this was not about trust or gut feeling. This was all about what evidence would show. Duke Maddox sighed.

"Im sorry Sonny, but I got to go by the evidence here and bring D'Jok in for questioning"...

Corso had reprogrammed the clone in Magnus Blades strong hold to play into Sonnys spesific orders. Sure, it felt wrong, and made his gut twist in knots to have to even speak the words that pledged alliance to Magnus and turn his back on Sonny, even if it was a clone. It just felt so damn wrong, in all possible ways. He could barely thing Magnus could not hear him on the other end, as Corso found himself looking for a bucket to vomit in every two seconds. Then, his eye caught the news. As Callie Mystic stood next to Warren, Corso noticed the images that ran across the screen. His mouth dropped open. This could not be happening, he was having a nightmare and he could have sworn he was wide awake.

Corso turned on his transmitter, calling Sonnys number.

"Sonny, you better take a five minute break and watch arcadia news with Clamp, there is a news story on there now, and I think it will be a big shock to you"...

Magnus was laughing out loud as he watched the news. Corsos clone stood right by that it had pledged alliance to Magnus, it stood still as the news footage was on.

"It never pays off to double cross a pirate like me boy, too bad you had to learn that the hard way. Now, I am curious to what your father will do about this matter" he laughed.

To Magnus, the news story had an intoxicating effect. This was sure to provoke a reaction from Sonny, and lure him out into the open. With luck on his side, Technoid would take care of Sonny for good. This was a golden opourtunity for them, to finally have the most wanted man in the galaxy under lock and key.

"If you care for your son Sonny, you will free him from this, and with your son as wanted as yourself, I will finally have my revenge, and the galaxy will finally be under my reign. You can do nothing to stop me now. I already stole your right hand, and I will pluck away your loyal men, one by one, till you stand alone. You will beg for forgiveness for your treason and taking my place Sonny. And if you pledge, I will consider letting you live as a slave in the mines. If you dont, it is the end, for you and your son" he laughed...

In the common room on Aarch Academy, the snow kids watched in shock.

"This can not be happening, we need to tell Sonny, now!" Tia said as she got up.

Mei rose with her.

"I am coming with you Tia. This is horrible. And all wrong." she said.

The two new players, Aliya and Zack said nothing. They werent even snow kids, they were hired hands to replace Mei and Micro Ice in the matches, and also, there to keep the snow kids calm during this ordeal.

Corso and Bennett entered the common looked serious.

"Everybody, please sit down" Corso asked.

Mei was beyond upset.

"How can I? This is D'Jok we are talking about, remember him? Red head with a big head, not to mention, the son of your boss" Mei yelled, locking eyes with Corso.

Corso sighed.

"We know Mei, and as upsetting as this is, we cant do anything at the moment. Sonny needs a minute to take in the shock. It is not exactly easy for him either, learning through the news that his own son was just arrested on charges of causing his team bodily harm. We all know D'Jok is innocent. Sonny needs to get some space to think, to come up with a strategy" Corso said.

"How long will that take? While we are sitting here twittling our thumbs,D'Jok could be undergoing torture right now, to have him reveal Sonnys whereabouts" Micro Ice pointed out, rather cross.

Mei agreed with him, and that seemed to be the attitude of the entire team.

Corsos transmitter beeped.

"I hear you Sonny, what are we going to do about this?" Corso asked.

Sonnys hologram looked deadly serious when he spoke.

"With this move, Magnus has us in a corner. Believe me snow kids when I say this is a situation I would avoid at all cost, but as it stands, a third pirate from the reserve team has to step in, to take D'Joks place. D'Jok will have to fight this through the legal system, to avoid ruining his life. A jailbreak will only lead to one thing, and I will do all in my power to keep DJok from becoming a pirate like myself"...

_For all my readers. I have made some changes in chapters 1 to 3, so they are slightly updated from where they were. Some of the dialogue is also changed. I do reccomend a re read of these to get up to speed. As for this chapter, It is clear, Sonny will keep DJok from becoming a full time pirate. The story is ramping up. And the stakes are about to grow. please continue to review if you like this fic._


	12. Chapter 12

D'Jok looked at Mei. She could not understand why all of her contracts seemed to have been cancelled, but she was politely told, that they had been compensated for her loss, and so would she be. She realised who had the resources to pull this off, but was still confused. Why would the pirates act like this?

D'Jok knew this had to tie in with the abduction somehow. He wished he knew more. Sonny had seemed very tense last time before they took off for Akillian. Normally, he hid his worries well, but this time, he failed at it. And now, Mei had to return to Akillian, indefinitely, since Clamp had called and told here there could be a potential problem with her flux. It was not like they did not expect it, but still, it came about so suddenly, and with no prior warnings. Mei had packed her bags. They had seen the video file of what had happened with Micro Ice, and even D'Jok understood the need for precautions. But it also felt unfair. He would be left here alone, to fight the angry parents, who still were sceptical about him, because of what had happened to the kids. Like this somehow was his fault. D'Jok wished he could tell them the truth, that this was a former pirate who had decided to come back in the game, but this was impossible. He blamed the former pirate, the searchlight would undoubtedly turn to his father and his men, and the last thing D'Jok wanted, was to make things difficult for his father.

As soon as Mei was packed, he followed her to the astro port.

Mei had a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry D'Jok, I wish you could come with me..." she sighed as she took his hand.

D'Jok looked down.

"Me too Mei, but I am needed right here for now. Clamp said I could practice through holo connection, the same way you did, so we can get this sorted out. And we can off course call eachother" he tried with a small smile.

Mei nodded, with a small smile herself.

"I know this is for my own good, I hope you dont mind Sinedd being there alone with me,You know, I am worried about the jealousy we both used to have in the past.." she said.

D'Jok swallowed a lump in his throat. Mei had just addressed a big issue for the both of them. Jealousy.

"Remember what we agreed upon. Whenever we got an issue, instead of being suspicious, and jealous, we agreed to talk about it, and be honest" he tried.

Mei nodded.

"This will be our first and biggest test D'Jok. With all that is going on, the possible threat from the abduction and all, I feel kind of alone, and a bit isolated with this. I know Sonny wants the best for all of us, but are you sure this it the best way to go about things?" she asked, not sounding like her normal confident self.

"I know my dad Mei, he would not do this if not for very good reasons. You saw him when we met with Warren. I cant recall ever having seen him this worried before" D'Jok admitted.

Mei nodded.

"Corso too, and since I know Corso better than I know Sonny,I could tell this was serious. Clamp too looked worried, I am not sure what they have found already, but for Sonny to take these steps, it has to be something serious right?" she asked.

D'Jok nodded.

"The shadows match in in one week, we will meet in the holo trainer. Do your best, and play your hardest. And we will show just why we are the three times galactik football champions" he tried.

That comment made Mei smile, before she kissed him.

"Now there is my guy, the red headed striker who happens to be the son of you know who" she smiled, being very conscious of where they were.

Mentioning Sonnys name here would attract attention wich could lead to the pirates hideout being found.

D'Jok waved as the shuttle took off for Akillian. Then, he headed for Club Galactik and todays training session with Warren and the galactik kids...

* * *

Clamp looked at the new equipment in his lab. All of this was state of the art, he had to wonder if the pirates had made it themselves or stolen it. No matter, it would now be part of his and Sonnys isolated lab until they could crack the code to take care of the problem with the NanoX virus that Mei, Micro Ice and the Galactik kids was infected with. It seemed Micro Ices flux was either weaker than Meis, or it was something in the male genetic of Micro Ice that had made him be the first to develop the problem. Clamp wondered, could this Magnus Blade have remotely controlled it all from a distance? He recalled the trip back from Paradisia. He knew him as Lord Phoenix, but Sonny and the other pirates had constantly addressed him by a different name, Magnus Blade. Clamp had not asked, but what he had understood was that the pirates had a past with Magnus, more spesifically, Sonny and Corso seemed to know him well. And they had both acted on edge around him. It had seemed Sonny tried to determine if he could trust him or not. It had turned out he could , there was like a glimpse in his mind, maybe it had slipped his conscious mind, but his subconscious had caught it, and now brought it to his attention. When they broke free of Paradisias orbit,There had been something in Magnus eyes, a sad look, almost as if he missed his time with the pirates. Clamp decided, if time and opourtunity rose, he would ask Sonny about it. He saw the pirates that arrived first with the equipment, had started to assemble it where they had been directed. Sonny had asked it be put up where it could cause no real harm to others, should such a thing as an explosion occur. Dame Simbai had come to see him.

"I just heard from Mei, the shuttle is arriving in the astro port in about 15 minutes. I sent Rocket to pick her up. Have you heard from Sonny yet?" she asked.

Clamp nodded.

"Sonny should be here about the same time. He said to start as soon as we have spoken with Mei, Micro Ice, Sinedd and Sunja about what needs to happen. I think Sonny knows something about what is behind this, and it is not good news. He seemed tense when I spoke with him" Clamp informed.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"I understand this is some kind of nano engineered virus?" she asked.

Clamp nodded.

"Yes, this would be within my field of expertise. Because this is a technology that mixes into biological science, Sonny and I have to isolate ourselves, and work in protective suits with this. And it brings a strange form of deja vu to me, as this was how things started with the cursed meta flux, until I created a container to allow us out of the suits" he said.

Dame Simbai looked him. Clamp looked very old all of a sudden,like the past had come back to haunt him somehow.

"Are you feeling ok Clamp?" she asked, slightly worried.

Clamp sighed.

"Not really, I will be fine, as soon as Sonny fills me in" he said.

A buzzing sound over their heads, hovering over the pitch in Tustra tower, alerted them, Sonny and the pirates of the Black Manta had arrived.

Moments later, the big ship had landed on the pitch, staying in stealth mode for security reasons. The hatch opened, and out came Sonny. Behind him, came Corso, with some special equipment to do the most dangerous testing.

Clamp greeted him.

"I got the ones you asked for gathered in the briefing went to pick up Mei at the astro port, she should have arrived by now" Clamp said.

Sonny nodded.

"Good, Corso, have the equipment set up, and prepare to stand guard. Until Clamp and I can figure out a solution, no one will enter the lab after we are in. It is under lockdown around the clock." he said.

Corso nodded, and made way to the lab. Sonny went with Clamp, to collect the flux samples he could get and fill in the affected parties as to the procedure that would take place...

* * *

D'Jok threw himself into the play with the kids, head on. It took his mind of all the other stresses he had. At least Sunjas and Sinedds parents did not blame him for this. He had been nowhere near her when she got sick. And Sinedd had told him, Sonny had acted quickly, putting an inhibitor bracelet on his sisters arm, and personally carried her to the ship, where Bennett had taken them to Akillian for treatment under Dame Simbais care. Bennett had remained on Akillian as Sonny and the others had made their way there shortly after the meeting with Warren. To hear Warren speak of how he had come to have his first chance with the Ligtnings, and galactik football, had been a real eye opener for D'Jok. He had not ever thought of how the flux wars, wich they off course had heard about in school, but never actually experienced, had left many planets devastated and many were still rebuilding after the wars. But hearing Warren speak of the nanoX virus, whom had killed other Lightnings players, after being infected as part of a Technoid experiment,only, they did not know it was led by Technoid at the time, It had been Duke Maddox predecessor who did this, in an attempt to rule supreme over the galaxy, D'Jok had realised even more just how swollen his own head had been. He recalled his first meeting with Warren one on one, and the advice he had been given.

"The important thing, is the game, and nothing but the game. You have to forget who you are, or rather, who people would like you to be".

Warrens words rung in his mind, and D'Jok was unfocused.

"D'Jok, stop daydreaming and get in the game, you will cause your team to loose" Sounded Warrens voice.

That made him get back to the here and now moment. D'Jok caught the ball from little Mina, a young lightnings girl, and went for the goal. And from the left, came Tommy, a young akillian boy, to intercept.

"No way, this goal is mine" said D'Jok as he jumped.

Tommy attempted to follow. He ignited his flux, and to D'Joks horror, he saw how Tommys flux started to flicker, the same way as it did with Micro Ice and Sunja.

"Tommy, no! Warren, get us out of here, hurry!"D'Jok yelled.

As soon as he had landed, the holo trainer dissolved around them. Tommy was on the ground, twisting.

"Someone help me" he yelled.

D'Jok sat down and put his hands around the boys waist.

"Just lie still.." he tried.

"Tommy!" a voice screamed from the door.

D'Jok looked up. It was Tommys mother, and she looked crossed.

Warren approached them.

"How is he D'Jok?" Warren asked.

"I got no idea, I am not a doctor, or scientist" D'Jok said.

Tommys mother had reached them. And she looked cross at D'Jok.

"This is all your fault D'Jok. If I had not let him practice with you and the snow kids, none of this would have ever happened" she said.

D'Jok felt like he had been punched in the face.

"How is any of this my fault Ma'am? I was not in charge of the holotrainer" he defended himself.

Tommys mother did not care.

"All those abducted had something to do with you. Mei, your former girlfriend, Micro Ice, your best friend, and then, our precious kids, whom formed a team under your leadership. And here you go, endangering them, by letting them play with an energy that is harmful to their bodies,and you claim you are not responsible? I will alert police to this matter, as this is reckless from a football star of your stature" she spat.

Warren could see this would not end D'Jok was about to go all defensive. As soon as he had this all taken care of, and the kids sent home to their parents, he would need to contact Sonny. This had all marks of growing ugly and fast.

"I will call an ambulance Ma'am, and have Tommy taken to the emergency room.D'Jok, will you please alert the parents that practice is cancelled and call in Artegor? I will deal with matters here" he said.

D'Jok could only nodd, as he walked into his office with heavy steps. He had a sinking feeling in his gut, if he ever wondered what it was like being in trouble with the law, he was about to experience that, first hand. He sighed as he sat down to call Artegor Nexus first...

* * *

At Akillian,Sonny had just finished speaking with Micro Ice, Sunja, Mei and Sinedd about the situation. All four of the players had a serious look on their faces.

"So, until further notice, we cant play in the competition?" Mei asked, feeling very insecure.

Sonny nodded.

"Until we can be sure that we can isolate this virus that you seem to have been injected with, yes. Do any of you have any kind of memories about this happening?" he asked.

Both Mei and Micro Ice shook their head. But Sunja frowned.

"We were given a special kind of pill every morning, before going to practice. We were told it was some kind of vitamin.." she said.

Sonny looked at her.

"Could you tell me more about how that pill looked like? Colour, shape, and if possible, how it tasted?" he asked softly.

Sunja seemed to think.

"It had two colours, purple and pink, in an octagon shape. It tasted funny, I cant really describe it.." she said.

Sonny seemed to think, then he grabbed a small notepad, and roughly made a drawing. As soon as he was done, he showed it to Sunja.

"Something like this?" he asked.

"Uhu" Sunja nodded.

Sonny tried to smile.

"Thank you Sunja, you have been very helpful" he said.

"Does that mean I can become a pirate like you when I grow up?" Sunja asked and in a way only an innocent child could ask.

That made Sonny smile for a second. He was not going to crush her hopes just yet.

"We will see, being a pirate is not as fun as it sounds like, it is dangerous" he said softly.

Then, he said good bye, and went with Corso, who had been waiting for him. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Corso grabbed his arm.

"I heard the description of the pill and I saw your reaction Sonny. Before you take another step into that lab, please, in Shilohs name, tell me, we are not dealing with a hybrid of what I think we are" Corso said, and the look in his eyes begged for Sonny not to confirm his suspicion.

Sonny sighed.

"Believe me Corso, I wish I could say that for certain, but you know me too well. You know exactly what I was thinking by hearing that description" Sonny said.

Corso took the notepad and looked at Sonnys drawing.

"He must have a hidden lab in the strong hold. I never saw anything while I was there" Corso said.

Sonny nodded.

"Is your clone free to roam about the strong hold?" he asked.

Corso smiled.

"If the clone agrees to go against Sonny Blackbones and his men, I would say yes. It seemed Magnus wants to break the pirates today that way, from inside" he mused.

Sonny nodded.

"Then lets throw him a bone shall we? Remotely program the clone to follow your behaviour. That should give you something to do while you guard the lab. Clamp and I start the isolation in two hours" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"As you wish Sonny"...

* * *

Duke Maddox was in shock when he read the police report. D'Jok was a tripple galactik champion, and now, he was accused of hurting the kids he coached?

The police was asking permission to put out an arrest warrant for D'Jok. And the mother of the child, was already giving an interview with Callie Mystic. She was rambling on about an abduction, whom supposedly had been solved by Sonny Blackbones and his men, a mysterious disease, wich had struck her son while D'Jok was holding him in his arms as the holo trainer was taken down. The woman also spoke of this having happened to Mei, Micro Ice and the galactik kids. All persons directly connected to D'Jok. Duke Maddox sat in deep thoughts. Could this be Sonnys doing? It seemed unlikely. This was not Sonnys operations now days. Sonny seemed more taken with ridding the galaxy of dangers connected to flux, and also to keep the galaxy stabile. It was also known to Technoid now, Sonny and his men had the protection of the Flux society, as they had taken on the role of one of their investigative teams. From the flux society, Sonny and the pirates was held in high regard. Duke Maddox was wondering, as he pulled up the wanted poster for both Sonny Blackbones and also, Magnus Blade, side by side, on a separate screen. Was the galaxy now dealing with two fractions of pirates? It could certainly seem so. And from his call with Sonny the other night, Duke Maddox felt more compelled to believe that to be the case. Sonny stood to gain nothing by lying about his and his mens affairs. And with his sense of justice, Duke Maddox knew, the only reason Sonny would ask Technoids help in the matter, was because it was needed to protect the galaxy. He looked at both wanted posters. Who to believe in? His nemesis, Sonny Blackbones, who had over and over been proven truthful in his claims, or his masked Predecessor, Magnus Blade, the most ruthless pirate in the galaxy? If he was to follow his gut feeling, he felt like trusting Sonnys words. But this was not about trust or gut feeling. This was all about what evidence would show. Duke Maddox sighed.

"Im sorry Sonny, but I got to go by the evidence here and bring D'Jok in for questioning"...

* * *

Corso had reprogrammed the clone in Magnus Blades strong hold to play into Sonnys spesific orders. Sure, it felt wrong, and made his gut twist in knots to have to even speak the words that pledged alliance to Magnus and turn his back on Sonny, even if it was a clone. It just felt so damn wrong, in all possible ways. He could barely thing Magnus could not hear him on the other end, as Corso found himself looking for a bucket to vomit in every two seconds. Then, his eye caught the news. As Callie Mystic stood next to Warren, Corso noticed the images that ran across the screen. His mouth dropped open. This could not be happening, he was having a nightmare and he could have sworn he was wide awake.

Corso turned on his transmitter, calling Sonnys number.

"Sonny, you better take a five minute break and watch arcadia news with Clamp, there is a news story on there now, and I think it will be a big shock to you"...

Magnus was laughing out loud as he watched the news. Corsos clone stood right by that it had pledged alliance to Magnus, it stood still as the news footage was on.

"It never pays off to double cross a pirate like me boy, too bad you had to learn that the hard way. Now, I am curious to what your father will do about this matter" he laughed.

To Magnus, the news story had an intoxicating effect. This was sure to provoke a reaction from Sonny, and lure him out into the open. With luck on his side, Technoid would take care of Sonny for good. This was a golden opourtunity for them, to finally have the most wanted man in the galaxy under lock and key.

"If you care for your son Sonny, you will free him from this, and with your son as wanted as yourself, I will finally have my revenge, and the galaxy will finally be under my reign. You can do nothing to stop me now. I already stole your right hand, and I will pluck away your loyal men, one by one, till you stand alone. You will beg for forgiveness for your treason and taking my place Sonny. And if you pledge, I will consider letting you live as a slave in the mines. If you dont, it is the end, for you and your son" he laughed...

In the common room on Aarch Academy, the snow kids watched in shock.

"This can not be happening, we need to tell Sonny, now!" Tia said as she got up.

Mei rose with her.

"I am coming with you Tia. This is horrible. And all wrong." she said.

The two new players, Aliya and Zack said nothing. They werent even snow kids, they were hired hands to replace Mei and Micro Ice in the matches, and also, there to keep the snow kids calm during this ordeal.

Corso and Bennett entered the common looked serious.

"Everybody, please sit down" Corso asked.

Mei was beyond upset.

"How can I? This is D'Jok we are talking about, remember him? Red head with a big head, not to mention, the son of your boss" Mei yelled, locking eyes with Corso.

Corso sighed.

"We know Mei, and as upsetting as this is, we cant do anything at the moment. Sonny needs a minute to take in the shock. It is not exactly easy for him either, learning through the news that his own son was just arrested on charges of causing his team bodily harm. We all know D'Jok is innocent. Sonny needs to get some space to think, to come up with a strategy" Corso said.

"How long will that take? While we are sitting here twittling our thumbs,D'Jok could be undergoing torture right now, to have him reveal Sonnys whereabouts" Micro Ice pointed out, rather cross.

Mei agreed with him, and that seemed to be the attitude of the entire team.

Corsos transmitter beeped.

"I hear you Sonny, what are we going to do about this?" Corso asked.

Sonnys hologram looked deadly serious when he spoke.

"With this move, Magnus has us in a corner. Believe me snow kids when I say this is a situation I would avoid at all cost, but as it stands, a third pirate from the reserve team has to step in, to take D'Joks place. D'Jok will have to fight this through the legal system, to avoid ruining his life. A jailbreak will only lead to one thing, and I will do all in my power to keep DJok from becoming a pirate like myself"...

* * *

_For all my readers. I have made some changes in chapters 1 to 3, so they are slightly updated from where they were. Some of the dialogue is also changed. I do reccomend a re read of these to get up to speed. As for this chapter, It is clear, Sonny will keep DJok from becoming a full time pirate. The story is ramping up. And the stakes are about to grow. please continue to review if you like this fic._


	13. Chapter 13

Callie Mystic looked serious as she came on that night. The snow kids was usually in the news for good things. This..was not.

An hour earlier, D'Jok, the snow kids striker, coach to the galactik kids and one of the founders of Club galactik, had been taken in for questioning by Technoid, in regard to two separate incidents that had happened with members of the galactik kids team.

Warren tried to defuse the situation, as he was the main coach and D'Jok really just the assistant, D'Jok was innocent to the charges, claimed the Lightnings striker.

Technoid..was not convinced. Arcadia news had exclusive pictures of D'Jok being led away in handcuffs. Any attempt to get a statement from the snow kids proved futile.

Callie knew she needed to dig deeper. Mei had also left Genesis in a hurry.

Someone had paid off all her contractors to let her go, and she was now back with her team on Akillian, out of reach, as Rocket, with this affair around D'Jok, had barred her from speaking with the Arcadia news till matters was resolved.

Callie smelled a story.

Why were they so secretive at Aarch academy? There was a story here, and she needed to make preparations to find out what was hidden...

* * *

Warren and Artegor Nexus finally breath a sigh of relief when they entered the office. The journalists was like a hungry pack of wolves, and out for blood.

In this case, D'Joks blood. The snow kids striker and assistant coach had been taken in for questioning as they put it, but in handcuffs.

And Warren was concerned about that.

"Artegor, I am not sure what you are thinking, but some of D'Joks relatives need be informed of what went on here tonight" Warren finally said.

Artegor rubbed his chin.

"It seems, D'Jok has a fostermother, according to Aarch. Maya. A renouned psychic, who resides on Akillian. We may need to contact her" Artegor tried.

Warren shook his head.

"That is not whom we need to speak to in this situation. We also have his father" Warren said.

Artegor looked at him.

"Did D'Jok tell you about his father?" Artegor managed.

Warren looked at him. Behind the dark sunglasses, Artegor was unreadable.

"He told me.I am aware he is the son of Sonny Blackbones, the leader of the pirates.

What I dont know is, is Sonny aware that his son is now in prison, under Technoid guarding?" he asked.

Artegor looked at him.

"If not, now would be a good time to fill him in on what we know.I am not sure how he intends to solve this, but I know Sonny Blackbones is bound to have a plan to get his son out of this mess"...

* * *

D'Jok stared at the walls of his prison cell. Never had he imagined himself on the inside of something like this.

He had worried about one day seeing images of Sonny inside a cell, captured by Technoid.

Off course, he had also tried to prepare in his minds eye, what a trial against his father would look like, what the sentencing would sound like.

It was not like it was major crimes the pirates committed.

They too, like everyone else, had to eat, and since defying Technoid cut them off from having any regular jobs.

So what was left but to steal to survive? Well, back to his own situation. He was really in a tight spot right now, and had no idea how to get out.

He had to wait, until his father was notified, and see what would happen.

A jailbreak he did not imagine. He was innocent.

None of what had happened to the kids, or Micro Ice or Mei, was his fault. He had tried doing all in his power, to actually make sure no one was hurt.

There was a hole that he could not recount what had happened.

The hole from the time the abduction happened, and they managed to track down the abducted kids, and his friends, and bring them to safety.

D'Jok thought of the conversation with his father, where he had revealed the true identity of Lord Phoenix.

And then, the hypnotism that he had exposed him to. D'Jok feared that maybe Corso and Sonny had not gotten it all taken care of.

If this Magnus Blade could hurt Mei, and Micro Ice, and the kids like he had, what resources had he ruled over on Paradisia?

Had he, by signing the contract with Team Paradisia, also trapped himself?

D'Jok thought back, to the moment after the match, the day after he learned that his father was seriously sick in Dame Simbais clinic,possibly dying from being poisoned, to when he had revealed the father son bond to Lord Phoenix.

Had he seemed surprised at this revelation? No, the answer was a clear no. He had seemed calm, almost too calm, like he already knew.

And Sonny would not have told him, even if he knew.

There was other things too, and now D'Jok felt his head was spinning as he tried to make sense of it all.

But what had led to him being here, was Tommys mother. She had filed a report with the police, demanding an investigation into his role in all this.

He could understand her worry for her son, but that still did not justify him being locked up.

D'Jok sat down on the bench in his cell, head in his hands.

"Dad, I need help"...

* * *

Sonny rubbed his chin, as Warren and Artegor told him as detailed as they could, what had happened, and led to D'Jok being arrested.

He could understand the mother of the child Tommy being upset and not acting rationally, but there seemed no good reason for D'Joks Arrest.

Corso had hacked the police station in question and the file they had on D'Jok so far, and Bennett and Artie was tasked with reading through it, finding anything that could indicate why he was being held. And as expected, they came up with nothing.

Sonny looked at the two men on the screen in front of him on the screen.

"They got nothing to really hold him, him still being locked up could be something as innocent as a slip up, otherwise he would be out of there hours ago" Sonny stated.

Corso made a sound that was halfway snarl and halfway laugh.

"Dont kid yourself Sonny. You know why they are holding him, and it has nothing to do with the charges, or rather lack there of. D'Jok is being used as bait, for a bigger fish" he said, giving Sonny a look that left no question who the 'bigger fish' was.

Sonny nodded.

"They expect me to organize a jailbreak, to force me to violate the terms for my immunity drawn up by the league and the flux society. Wich is why I will work this from a different angle." he said.

"Wich angle are you speaking about Sonny? Technoid may create a story,I am well aware such has happened before" said Artegor.

Sonny smirked at Artegor.

"Believe me Artegor, We pirates are quite familiar with Technoids ways of handling the matters. The angle I am thinking of, is getting D'Jok some legal help. I got a few helpful contacts that owes the pirates a favour. Leave this matter to me. He should be out, sometime within the morning hours. I will see to it that no interrogation takes place without the presence of his lawyer. If so happens, we will use the legal channels to have the ruling made void. D'Jok is innocent, what caused this, has nothing to do with him. It is something else, related to flux. And before I became a pirate, I worked with flux, for Technoid. I know my way around this. I will find a solution to reverse the process. For now, I will ask you gentlemen to speak to Tommys mother, and convince her to have him wear a flux inhibitor, to slow the process down. My men and I will handle the rest. And Warren, any information you may have on what we spoke of, please have it sent to the contact code I gave you during our meeting. I will have an inhibitor bracelet made by the pirates, delivered to you in the morning" Sonny promised before he said good bye and ended the transmission.

* * *

Corso had hacked the hospital and found Tommys file there. Now he brought it up on the screen for Sonny to view. Thanks to the screens, the virus was enhanced, so Sonny could look without the use of a microscope. Corso could see Sonny study the results and the video file attached. Then, he all of a sudden froze the image, and backtracked it about 20 seconds before he froze the image again. Corsos mouth dropped open, and since even Bennett had some medical knowledge, he too gasped at what he saw. Artie, in his role as assistant to Sonny, was not as well versed in the medical terms yet, but from looking at his three friends, he knew something was severely wrong.

"How did he get hold of technology that allowed him to create this? This is highly advanced, lightyears ahead of Technoid research" Bennett finally managed.

"Not even my home planet, Chissia, is this advanced yet, this is nothing like anything I have ever seen before, and I have seen severely advanced military technology you can only dream of in most of the galaxy" Corso said, still sounding in a state of shock.

Sonny studied the images thoroughly, it was true, Technoid had been nowhere near these reaches with anything during his time there. But Sonny had not limited his studies or research to the ones of Technoid alone. He had known, if he was to stay on top of the game, he had to study what research other planets had. Like planet Xzion and planet Xenon, wich were advanced in their technology. And he had seen this before. But where? An old file from planet xenon,or possibly Xzion?

He had to check continued to zoom, but the picture would not be clear enough. He needed a stronger tool to get a closer look.

Sonny made sure to have Corso send the link of the picture to the lab he and Clamp worked,maybe if he could enhance it a bit more,under a microscope, then some answers would possibly be forthcoming.

Then Sonny made ready to leave.

"Corso, while I am gone, make ready to send one of our message boxes to this lawyer." Sonny said and handed him a small note with a name and address. Then, he took a tiny item, and added into the box.

"Daniel Burrows, time to pay off your end of the pact"...

* * *

At the hospital, Tommys mother was sitting at her sons bed. Tommy looked pale,and had not come out of the comatose state since they arrived.

The doctors, some of Technoids finest, had ran all the tests they could,and could find no explanation.

All they could say, was that this virus, that they could not explain, seemed to take over Tommys little body.

The flesh was not rotting, but her little boy was disappearing from her. How much longer would he still be here at the rate this was going?

Was there no one in this entire galaxy that could do something? She could not keep herself from wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

A light knock was heard. As she looked up, she saw a young man in front of her, dressed in a nursing uniform. He had a compassionate smile on his face.

"How are you feeling Ma'am?" he asked, as he went over to the bed, to take the new readings on Tommy, who whimpered slightly.

His mother looked at the young nursing assistant.

Why did he look so familiar? It was as if she had seen him somewhere before, but where? At the moment, her mind would not let her remember.

"Please mr..."

"Derek Stevens Ma'am" the young man smiled.

He had nice eyes, blue, tall, blonde, and very athletic.

"My Tommy..he is not doing good. Is there anything you can do to stop this?" she said, eyes puffy from her tears.

"Tommy is all I have, if I loose my son, I got nothing left.."

Stevens just nodded. Sonny had been right. The mother was being overly protective of her child, and not really a bad person at all.

She just acted like a concerned parent. D'Jok had just been a convenient target for her fear and anger to lash out on.

But just the same..as soon as he had drawn the blood work Sonny asked him for, and secured a vail in a small tube shaped like a pen, Stevens took pity in the woman.

She did not know the connection between Sonny, the man that could help the most, and D'Jok, the snow kids striker, who was his son.

Sometimes, it was just amazing to see how normal citizens of the society, were so much like themselves.

The pirates had their grievances too, like everyone else. But when it came to kids, they could be just the same as the common man.

Stevens knew Sonny had asked him to go in like this, because, on the pitch, he wore a mask and was heavily disguised, like all pirates.

And for that reason, some of them, could work regular jobs in society, if it was needed, and for the purpose of supporting a family.

Stevens was one such case. He had small children, about the same age as Tommy, and a wife on the hospitals human resources department.

His wife knew all about his activities with the pirates, and admired Sonny Blackbones for his work to make the galaxy a safer place.

Once she learned about Tommys case, she found she was in a place to help the pirates get close to the child and get the necessary blood works.

She knew of Sonnys research within Technoid, and had convinced her husband, and Sonny to let Stevens into the hospital under the guise of being a nurse, to access the situation.

Stevens felt sorry for the mother. He decided to offer her some comfort before he left.

"We dont yet know what this virus is Ma'am. I wish I was a doctor and could tell you more. I got a son myself, the same age as Tommy.

I cant imagine what I would do if this was my son.

But trust that help is coming, and possibly from a most unexpected place, that is, if you will allow the help. this man can offer" he said.

She looked at him.

"I feel like I have seen you somewhere, like I know you, but that cannot be. We have never met before" she mused.

Stevens nodded.

"I hear that a lot. And you are part right. But I can not disclose who I really am, that would be dangerous. But I do know someone who can help. If you let him" he said.

She looked at him again. Then, it was like it dawned on her.

"Are you a pirate, Mr Stevens?" she asked.

Stevens nodded.

"I am, and so is the man that can help the most. He is one of us, a truly just and honest man, even if Technoid tries to make it seem different.

He was once one of their best scientists. If you want me to, I can ask his advice and expertise." Stevens offered.

The woman nodded.

"I once heard, from my late husband, about a scientist that escaped Technoid, and was said to have joined the pirates. My John..my husband..he was friends with this professor. He held him in high regard. I believe he named him once. Professor I'Son I believe his name was" she said.

Stevens nodded.

"Yes, but when he joined us, he changed his name. Today, you know him as Sonny Blackbones. Our leader. And also, D'Joks father" Stevens told her.

He could litterally see her heart sink.

"Then, I was the one that put his son in jail..he surely wont help me after that" she said.

"Sonny has already taken an interest in this Ma'am.

The flux society and the League has managed to get an immunity agreement in place for Sonny, as long as he abides by the law and work to resolve this, Technoid can not arrest him. The arrest of D'Jok was hard for Sonny, but he will find a way to help D'Jok too, wich is legal.

You'll see" said Stevens, and made ready to leave.

"Stevens?"

The pirate stopped and turned to look at her.

"Please, I will do anything to save my Tommy. I beg of you, please, save my Tommy" she cried.

Stevens nodded and approached Tommys bed again. From inside the pocket of his uniform, he pulled out a tiny bracelet.

"All the other galactik kids, and snow kids affected has been given one of these. It slows the process down. Tommy is by far the worst effected by this, since he did not have an inhibitor bracelet. Sonny will tend to his case first. But Sonny cant come here personally. Technoid is known to break their promises to us pirates in particular. If they see him, they will attempt to capture him. Until it is safe, Sonny will do his research with a team of the best scientists the galaxy has. Not all the best scientists work for Technoid, many of them work in secretsy for the pirates too, we pay them well. What I am trying to say is, dont worry. Sonny is already on this. And I would bet my last standard unit, he will solve this, and hold whoever created this, personally responsible"...

* * *

At Attourney Burrows office, a small package was delivered to his office. Daniel Burrows had gotten his law degree sponsored by Technoid.

Criminal justice was a field he liked working in.

He recalled his school days, when a group of five very different men, whom all chose different directions, had promised an oath, to have eachothers backs if anyone of them should ever need the help from anothers profession.

During the years, they had all tried to remain anonymous, but their names had been mentioned from time to time.

One of them was a merchant, another one was a famous author, then there was him, the one with the law degree,another one was a news reporter, and finally, the scientist of them all.

Known as a genious, who could cook up the most vicious smelling stink bombs and look as innocent as an angel when they were confronted with their mischiefs. Those were the days. He wondered what they were all doing now.

"Mr Burrows, this was delivered for you" said his secretary as she put a small package on the table.

What could that be? He opened the package. A file inside a plastic folder, and on top, a wodden box. As he took the box, and looked at it, he gasped.

It had the pirates emblem embedded on it. Who among the pirates knew him, and what could they possibly want from him?

Mr Burrows opened the box. Inside, he found a photograf from back in the day, all five of them, smiling.

And one man in the picture had a ring drawn around him. I'Son! On top of the picture, a ring, the symbol of their pact. And a folded letter.

Mr Burrows took the letter and read it. He was baffled.

He always thought Sonny Blackbones was familiar somehow, but blamed it on seeing his wanted poster so much.

Sonny Blackbones was someone that was regarded as a criminal, the chief of a gang of thieves.

According to Technoid anyway, the public seemed to think differently.

As he read the letter, he realised, by looking at the file, Technoid was doing great injustice to D'Jok, who was identified as Sonnys son.

And now, Sonny was pulling in a favour from the days past, the commeraderie and and what they had once promised.

Having read through the file, Mr Burrows called the number listed in the letter...

* * *

Sonny had fine tuned the microscope as much as he could. And now the image was several times enlarged, and crystal clear.

"What the heck is that kind of a virus? I have never seen anything that looks like that" Clamp exclaimed.

He found the virus to be facinating as it had clearly been engineered with the use of a metal alloy.

Sonny studied it.

"This technology is from Xzion, the lightnings planet. It certainly is nothing Technoid could ever produce. Their technology is far from advanced enough for this" he stated.

Clamp agreed. Dame Simbai had joined them, and also looked at it.

"No herbal remedies will work against this. It is built to have some kind of armour" she said.

Sonny agreed.

"This virus..till now, it is contained in the galactik kids, and two snow kids.

Magnus may have used some of the metal alloy he stole to reinforce his strong hold at Shilohe,but the real purpose was this.

It is evident, we may be dealing with rouge scientists from Xzion here.

I did study some of their technology, but even for me, this is in a league, where I need help.

I had hoped to avoid it, but we may need some help from Warren, and also, the lightnings, to find out, who on their planet has gone rouge, and created this virus, for a madman, who seeks power, and clearly dont care who suffers for him to seize that power" Sonny stated.

They could see him clench his fists. Clamp would admit it to no one, but seeing Sonny like this scared him. In all this, Sonny also stood to loose a lot.

It seemed, whatever Magnus Blade had started, had put the pirates in a place where there was many things that had to be solved at the same time.

"Now what Sonny? We are faced with technology none of us has ever dealt with before.

I would say, we need outside help with this, and that sparks another risk.." Clamp said.

Sonny nodded.

"We need help from Xzion. This is The Lightnings technology. Possibly, even Xenon. But I think we need to chase down one lead first.

For now, the case that must be dealt with first of all, is Tommy.

Because he has not worn an inhibitor bracelet, the process of integration has come very far within him.

The virus may be in the process of morphing into the next stage.

The good thing, is we got permission from Tommys mother to study the development and growth, it will save Micro Ice and Sunja, and also, the others when the virus activates.

The down side is..if we dont find some kind of solution, little Tommy may perish as a result.

And if so, as long as D'Jok is locked up, Technoid may find a way to pin this on him.

For now, I have contacted someone I trust, who owes a big favour, to take care of his legal defence. He will be assisting D'Jok during interrogation.

Where things stand right now,D'Jok should be out of prison in the morning, with no problems.

But if things progress and Tommy takes a turn for the worse..." Sonny sighed.

Both Dame Simbai and Clamp knew what he would not say out loud. If Tommy died, Technoid would most likely find a way to pin murder on D'Jok.

And his football career..any career for that matter, would be ruined.

D'Jok would be left with no choice but the one thing Sonny was trying desperately to keep from happening, him becoming a pirate like himself.

Sonny looked at the virus that had been infused with the metal alloy stolen from Technoid again.

Until he could get help from Warren and also The Lightnings, he could start working on the virus and deconstructing its armour at least.

And for that, he needed a sample of the alloy.

"Corso, set up a stealth mode 5 call to Duke Maddox. I got a suggestion for him. Let us see if he is willing to negotiate a deal"...

* * *

D'Jok was finishing his breakfast. Boring food, not the kind he preferred. This was not exactly healthy for his body either.

He wished he could have something better, but since he was treated as a criminal, locked up in a cage, he had better keep his grievances to himself, until he had some help.

So far, no word from Sonny. Not that he expected his dad to drop down the ceiling. Sonny was always careful. And smart about his choices.

Something would happen, that he was sure of, but not of what.

As he finished his meal, and put the plate where the robot could pick it up, he went to sit on the bench that served as his bed, again.

He looked up, as the robot jailer arrived, followed by a man with a suitcase.

"D'Jok Blackbones?" The man with the suitcase asked.

D'Jok was utterly confused. His last name was not Blackbones.. Unless..

Then he realised, this was how Sonny came to help him. There would be no jailbreak.

Sonny was outsmarting Technoid, keeping his immunity given to him by the league and the flux society, by abiding by normal legal rules.

"Yes Sir" D'Jok stood up and approached the door, happy to see a human face among all the robots.

"My name is Daniel Burrows, attourney Burrows.

I have been hired by my friend, I'Son, to defend you, and also, assist you during interrogation about this most unfortunate matter." he informed.

"But I have done nothing wrong, this whole mess must be just a big misunderstanding" said D'Jok, who was starting to get fed up with being accused over and over, for a thing he had not done.

If this was what it felt like to be a pirate, he could not understand why his father had not strangled Duke Maddox yet.

"So says all available documentation and witness explanations. But for some reason, Technoid is not easily convinced of your innocence" Mr Burrows stated.

"I get a feeling I am being used as bait. I am a small fish compared to whom they would really want locked up in this cell" D'Jok muttered.

"Well, you are a celebrity footballer. But I agree, I too, if I was technoid, would use all means necessary to capture your father" he said.

D'Jok looked at him.

"And how would you know that they are looking to capture my father?" he asked, sounding very suspicious.

Mr Burrows chuckled. D'Jok was acting exactly like I'Son, especially when he was up to something.

"To my knowledge, there is not many who use the last name Blackbones.

And since I happened to know a young scientist by the name I'Son, and you have the same facial featured and manners as him, I would think it is is a fair bet, that you are his son.

I doubt he would go to these lengths if not. Your father is no fool. Technoid calls him a criminal.

I for one, my profession aside, tend to see him as a defender of the weak, a very just and honest man, whom I am proud to call a lifelong friend" he smiled.

D'Jok nodded as they were led into an interrogation room, where two robot police men was waiting to take his statement.

Mr Burrows smiled.

"Now gentlemen, shall we get this matter taken care of, so this young man can carry on with his life?"...

* * *

Duke Maddox stared at Sonny through the screen.

"What you describe is impossible Sonny, not even with the most advanced science we have available, is it possible to infuse a virus with this metal alloy." he insisted.

Sonny did not care what the Duke meant.

"And I got proof that says otherwise, Your Excellency.

And since this is an investigation in where the league and the flux society hired me for my expertise in the field, I am requesting a small sample of the alloy, to conduct testing, to see if we can isolate the alloy from the virus, and thus, destroy it, before it gets completely out of hand" Sonny replied.

The pirates had to admire his calm when speaking to his nemesis.

Not all of what Sonny claimed could be 100% concluded. But Sonny seemed confident he was on the right track. Duke Maddox remained sceptic.

"You must think I am a fool Blackbones, you really think I would just hand you a piece of a new metal alloy Technoid developed, so you and your team can do testing.

I may be old, but my head still works fine" The Duke Growled.

Sonny was starting to feel fed up.

"Sometimes you really do make me wonder that Your Excellency.

What is at stake right now, it the lives of eight young kids, and also, two snow kids.

We have managed to slow down the progression, but one of the kids is about to have the virus morph into the next stage.

I am prepared to offer a deal, to save this kids life, if you are willing Your Excellency?" he asked.

Duke Maddox looked suspiciously at him.

"And what deal would that be?" he asked.

"Simple. I offer to come out of hiding, and join your clever men, in the hospital where the child, Tommy is hospitalized.

I will bring what results I have, and for the duration of the time there, I will also allow Technoid to track my every move.

In return, my son is released from prison, and an official apology to him from Technoid is made public.

Do we have a deal?" Sonny asked, having his suspicion to the answer.

"No can do Sonny. I would rather accept your unconditional surrender instead so you could be placed somewhere you can cause no more harm" came the reply.

Sonny smirked.

"Thaught so. Well, then we will go about things our own way. My son should be out of there in a matter of hours anyway, since you got nothing to hold him on" Sonny said casually.

Duke Maddox was gritting teeth.

"How would you know that, unless you broke into our records" he roared.

"I think you can ask his lawyer. I believe you are familiar with Mr Burrows reputation" Sonny informed, before he ended the conversation with the Duke who was throwing cuss words at them...

* * *

Corso had been busy with the old flux files.

Sonny had given him his personal access code as the pirates leader, to open up the archives and see if he could restore the files on The seed of shiloh that Magnus had erased.

It had been hours upon hours of scrolling up and down, searching, but no results found. Corso sighed.

This had all hallmarks to become a very long and boring night.

He was just about to get up and go get himself another cup of coffe, when his gaze caught something. Corso looked at it.

This looked to have been attempted comprized inside the computer system, but still came up as a deleted file.

Maybe.. Corso put in a few algorithms Artie had taught him. And suddenly, he was given the question if he wanted to reverse the deleted file.

Corso said yes, and hit a snag. It was asking for the Leaders personal password.

He had all datas, but not the personal password of the leader. It was given to whomever was appointed the leaders apprentice when such a process of training started.

And Sonny was the last to have undergone this. Did he know Magnus password?

Corso called and explained the problem. Minutes later, Sonny stood beside him and looked at the message.

And without a word, he leaned forth and pressed a code. Corso, Bennett and Artie gasped, as the file began to recover.

"How could this have remained hidden in the system. It is a massive file" Artie said baffled.

"I guess that Magnus was not a very good hacker then" said Bennett as he looked at the file.

"Good Job Corso,now it seems we can finally learn more about our own flux" said Sonny.

As The file started to open, Corso grew white as a sheet.

"No, tell me this is not true..."...

* * *

_Yes, I am mean again, and end the chapter there. This chapter is pretty self explainatory, so I will start to give feedback before chapters now, to those that has input, good or bad, to answer questions. Let me know how you liked this chapter. Good, boring, I dont read minds people, reviews are most helpful._


	14. Chapter 14

He had read for hours, writing down key notes for Sonny to look at as soon as he had time.

Since D'Jok had arrived,Sonny had decided to tend to his son.

And from the report from Artie, D'Jok had a massive breakdown after the last intense days.

Sonny found it best to stay at his sons side for now, to make sure he was ok.

Corso knew for a fact what Sonny really worried about was any kind of psychological about the police could have subjected D'Jok to.

Finally, Sonny arrived at the ship, tired, but still checking progress. Corso handed him the list he had written down.

"How is D'Jok Sonny? You stayed longer than I expected" Corso asked carefully.

Sonny sighed as he sat down.

"Technoid just gave a few more reasons for why I want the galaxy to know what kind of scum they are" Sonny admitted.

"D'Jok is exhausted. I couldn't make him tell it all now, but when someone breaks down like that..I find they did anything at all that suggests torture, then I will personally make them pay for it. That is a promise" Sonny said, and it was clear, he was angry.

Corso nodded.

"You should get some rest yourself, you look like one punch is all it takes to knock you over. We had hand to hand combat now, I would win every round" Corso pointed out.

Sonny looked at him.

"I am considering taking some of the anger and frustration out on a boxing bag in the training room" Sonny admitted.

Corso looked at him, long and hard.

"What is really troubling you Sonny? I know you, and that expression on your face, tells me, your mind is on overdrive right now. You wont be able to sleep without help" he stated.

Sonny stood up and turned his back on Corso. But Corso could see the muscles in his neck as he had taken his jacket off.

They were tense as steel wires, and Sonny was not able to wind down on his own right now.

Maybe he could help his friend out some, a few good boxing rounds would be just what Sonny needed at this point.

"Tell you what Sonny, lets head to the training room. I know your punches when you are like this.

Rather than be your punching bag, I will let the bag take it, and after, I will makes sure to take care of those strained muscles with a good massage, It will make you sleep like an innocent baby by the time I am done" he offered.

Sonny smiled as he heard that.

" I will take you up on that Deal Corso" he said. The two headed to the training room immedeately...

* * *

Duke Maddox was not pleased that D'Jok had been let go of.

The snow kid had been his best bet to make Sonny Blackbones make a mistake and come out of hiding.

If this virus that hit the galactik kids became an epedemic, he needed Sonnys expertise in his labs. And now, he was beating himself up.

Sonny had offered to assist on the hospital, with his men, even offered them to track him, and he had turned the offer down.

Nothing suggested Sonny had not meant it, but he had pulled the offer of the table the minute he would not release his son.

Duke Maddox sighed. If Sonny had the solution to this, he was not sharing it as of yet.

And it was impossible to track him, when under the protection of the league and the flux society.

All he could do, was wait for the day Sonny Blackbones made a mistake...

At the hospital, Tommys mother looked at her son. Tommy remained in what appeared to be a comatose state.

Whatever was this virus that Stevens had spoken of? And could he really make Sonny Blackbones have a look? She hoped so, with all of her heart.

She took Tommys hand. At least, he had no fever, but seeing him with all these tubes.. She was scared nothing would ever be the same again...

* * *

The following morning started early.

Clamp assisted the snow kids with training today, so Sonny and the players from The Lightnings were alone in the lab.

Sonny looked at the mixes he and Thran had made the previous night.

The Lightnings goalie looked interested at it.

"It is a good idea, to make a flux mix in an attempt to dissolve the armor of these agressive viruses. It if is the same strain that struck Xzion.." he said.

Sonny nodded.

"I read about what happened, It was a tragic loss of lives, one that could have been avoided, if the proper medication had been in place" he said.

The Lightnings goalie nodded.

"At that time, there was several tragedies, The Xenons planet, Ascarons demise..we had a list to pick from, and the deaths was high everywhere..."

He sighed.

Sonny nodded.

"Hopefully,we learned enough from the tragedies to avoid it happening again" he said.

Sonny chose to use a different tactic this time.

Instead of the process with protective gear, he had the sealed sample placed inside a concealed compartment,and used tools that held them all at a distance from the sample, while using the flux mix from last night.

Warren stood next to him, as Sonny inserted the virus with a dose of the mix.

"Ok, lets see if the stories about the seed of shilohs healing abilities are true. Hopefully, this can penetrate the armour and make it dissolve" Sonny said.

They waited several minutes, before Warren smiled.

"Well well Sonny, it looks like you cracked it wide open. Good job Professor" he smiled.

Sonny smiled as he saw how the seeming impenetrable armour dissolved from the virus, wich was left exposed.

"Good, now we get to study it closer, see what the core is made of, and possibly, how to stop it" he said.

Now, The Lightnings defender stepped forth.

"I believe this is where my research becomes handy Sonny. When I am not playing football, I work as a scientist myself.

This particular virus has wreaked havoc on my home planet for a long time. I believe I may have an idea now, as to how to kill it and stop the progression.

You may just have shown us, how to deal with a virus that once was a deadly killer" he said and held out his hand.

Sonny took it with a smile.

"If this can save the lives of little Tommy, Micro Ice, Mei, the galactik kids and all others who Magnus May have infected, I can only feel happy.

To me personally, it makes me feel I make up for mistakes made in the past" Sonny said.

As The Lightnings continued to do their work,introducing their knowledge to the mix, Sonny felt good about telling the good news to his son.

Before he headed to the holo trainer, he decided to put on a called in his team, to give the Snow kids a surprise work out session...

* * *

The snow kids was playing with two borrowed players to take Mei and Micro Ices places.

Aliya and Zack, from the Pirates reserve team proved excellent replacements for the two stars, they were good all rounders, and played their heart out.

Rocket was pleased with the work out so far. The snow kids came across as a reinforced team now, and he liked what he saw.

D'Jok was also getting back into rythm, and as of now, he and Sinedd communicated better on the pitch than ever before.

Shots on goal that was successful was more than doubled.

"Ok Snow kids, take a half time break" Rocket said as Clamp took the holo trainer down. At that moment, the pirates walked in.

Rocket smiled as he saw Sonny and the team in tracksuits, not their team uniform.

"Want to have some fun for the next part Snow kids? The pirates feel in the helpful corner this morning" Sonny smiled.

D'Jok could not resist a tease as he heard that.

"You are asking to get a good old fashion Whooping, Snow kids style Dad" he said.

This made the pirates chuckle. Sonny looked at Rocket, whom seemed to get what the pirate was up to.

"We will see about who gets a whopping D'Jok. Remember, it is not a non flux team you are playing now" he reminded him.

Sonny grinned."Take five minutes, and then we shall see who gets a whopping" Sonny teased.

Five minutes later, The snow kids and the pirates were expending maximum levels of energy inside the holo trainer...

* * *

Shilohe..

The pirate looked at the Corso clone.

"Tell me something Corso. You have been Sonnys right hand for years, and now, all of a sudden, you decide to turn on him.

Did he do something to make you desert him?" The pirate asked, while keeping a close eye on the files of the galactik kids.

The Corso clone looked at him.

"None of your buisness" he said. That only made the other pirate more curious.

"Or did you finally have the guts to tell him, how you have felt about him all these years, and he told you no?" he asked.

"No,I never told him about that, I dont need to. As long as he is not hurt or killed, I cant do anything else for him" The corso clone said.

The other pirate was still not willing to let the matter go.

"Corso, all of us knew how you felt about him. You know what the talk around the camps was, that he slept in your bed every night.

Want to share what that was really like?" he asked.

"No, That is personal, none of yours or anyone elses buisness" The Corso clone said.

"Have it your way. It is just a matter of time before we see Sonny captured anyway.

I got nothing against him, but I trust more in Magnus to be the leader we need.

Sonny is great, I give him that, but he is not the kind of leader the pirates need. Or anyone else, he is just too sentimental.

When Magnus takes seat as a galactik emperror, things will change for the better" he said.

He failed to see the Corso clone, had activated a sender on his arm, to send a coded message to the pirates...

* * *

The lightnings goalie and his team had worked hard to counter the virus.

It had been injected with a subtance in part made of the lightnings flux, and mixed up with a little bit of the mix taken from Sonny.

Now, Warren, Sonny and all other researchers was keeping a close eye on the infected sample, to see if they had finally found a cure.

"There, looks like something is happening" said the Lightnings goalie.

"Wich sample was that?" Warren asked him.

"The pure seed of Shiloh sample. Seems we found an effective cure" Sonny said as he looked at the virus twisting in pain under the microscope.

"Give it five more hours, before we conclude. In 5 hours, we will either have completely ended the virus, or we will see it morph to the next level" he said.

The Lightnings players nodded that."In the meantime, I got a special alone time planned for my son and I" smiled Sonny.

Warren smiled too."I think D'Jok will appreciate that Sonny, you two really dont get too much time together" smiled the Lightnings striker.

Sonny smiled too."Better have it done before the shadows match. I think it will be a real boost for him, he has had a rough few days"...

* * *

D'Jok was relaxing on the bed after the hard football practice this morning.

The Pirates meant buisness now that they had a flux, in all honesty, he was not really sure they could beat them this time.

They were always stars and played fair, but now that they had a flux of their own, there was a new glow and also strenght over the team.

They were not just trying to see how far they could get, no, this time, they were going for broke.

And the two borrowed Pirates players also played hard.

D'Jok could see strenght to the two wild cards, but he also saw the changes as being a bit hard to get used to.

The pirates team that he used to know, seemed to have dissolved, and been replaced by a far more merciless team.

And with the new teams of the competition, they too, like all teams, had to reinvent their game.

Micro Ice was getting a bit bored with not being able to play, and was up to his usual antics.

"Will you calm down Micro Ice? You will thread a hole in the floor if you keep that up" he commented, lifting his head slightly from the bed.

Micro Ice was about to reply when they noticed the man in the doorway.

"Dad! What are you doing here?" D'Jok asked.

Sonny just smiled."I got some free time to kill for once, and I decided it would be a good opourtunity to spend some quality time with my son" he said.

D'Jok could not help but smile at that.

It was true that he and Sonny did not have much time together, and any chance for alone time with his father, he would take.

"Sure thing Dad, did you have something in mind?" he asked.

Sonny smiled.

"How does a snow mobile ride around the old city of Akillian sound?" he said.

D'Jok smiled. "As long as we do it Pirate style, lets hit it"...

* * *

Ok, he was never going to suggest pirate style again, when it involved driving.

Sonny knew how to cut corners as they plowed through the snow. Despite the speed,D'Jok was in seventh heaven.

He had always wished, when he grew up, that he had a dad to do these things with. As he looked, it seemed Sonny had a special location in mind.

Both father and son wore protective glasses to avoid snowblindness in the white snow.

As they reached the old city of akillian,Sonny stopped the snow mobile.

And as they got off, Sonny put on a hood and some special glasses.

He was still a wanted man, despite the immunity agreement he had through the League and the flux society, Sonny did not trust Technoid to honour that agreement of the premises of Aarch Academy.

As father and son walked through the old city, it occurred to D'Jok that Sonny had a special place in mind for this visit.

"This place is eerie, it feels abandoned" said D'Jok as he looked around.

"It was abandoned after the great catastrophe. We are not far from its epicenter either" said Sonny, and pointed to a roof top in the distance, a few miles away.

"From that rooftop, is where the entire chain reation that caused this snow and glaciation started" he said, feeling a bit sad.

D'Jok realised this was not just father and son time, this was the first time Sonny revisited this place since the catastrophe.

And it was part of his fathers healing process, and coming to terms with the past. Sonny looked a bit sad as he looked to the roof top.

"That is the last time I saw her, if I only had known those moments would be our good bye.." he whispered.

D'Jok could feel the sadness he felt. It made him place a hand silently on his fathers shoulder.

Sonny smiled, and put a glove covered hand on top of his sons. Then, he started to lead D'Jok through narrow alleyways, deeper into the old city.

D'Jok could imagine how Maya, his fostermother, had told him it once looked.

It was abandoned now, but once, it had been a thriving and buzzling city, filled with life and people.

It struck D'Jok, this city was supposed to have been his home, where he was to have lived with his mother, and his father.

His mother, he never got to know, Maya had known her too short to really be able to tell him anything about her, the only way he had to get to know his mother, was these precious moments with his father.

And it was obvious, the memories felt bittersweet for Sonny.

Not only had he accidentally caused this planet to become the frozen giant it was, in the process, he had lost his wife, the woman he loved deeply with all his heart.

And guilt had been with him ever since. D'Jok looked at him.

Sonny seemed to count the streets,and house numbers that was still,he stopped outside a small town house.

It was long since abandoned, like the rest of the old Akillian city.

"This is the home you never got to live in D'Jok.

It feels painful to see, but I wanted to give you that glimpse into what kind of life you would have had, if Helena and I, that was her name, would have been allowed to give you what we planned.

Sadly, the meta flux changed all that.

I cant promise you what kind of life you would have had, if we all had made it, it is likely we would have sought refuge with the pirates as a family.

We will never know. But to go back to Technoid after Bleylocks betrayal, his attempt to use mine and Clamps invention for war, it would not have been possible. If I had to do that part all over again, I would, except for causing the catastrophe that is" he said with a small smile.

D'Jok looked at the house. It looked like a solid structure.

"Do you think it would be dangerous to go inside Dad?" he asked.

Sonny shook his head.

"The structure is built to last. Is it something you would like to look for Son?" he asked softly.

D'Jok nodded, all of a sudden feeling very sad.

"I'd like somekind of momentum of my mom, the woman that birthed me" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"I think I may know just the thing you seek" he said.

They made their way into the abandoned house. Sonny had brought a small rucksack, in case he wanted to take some of the things with him.

D'Jok could see him go through some old pictures, wedding photoes of himself and his mother, and other photoes.

He looked at the woman, Helena, his mother. She looked so happy where she hugged Sonny, only, this was a much younger version of him.

"You and mom must have married young dad" he said.

"We did, she was 21 and I was two years older, 23 years old at this photo. It brings back memories of happier times" Sonny said as he took the photo.

D'Jok noticed, Sonny had also found some other items, photoes of fellow students that he worked with, his co workers at Technoid, and one D'Jok could tell his father was not too happy about.

He looked at it.

He recognized Sonny, dressed in a blue shirt and a baseball cap, and with his arm around his neck, a man he hoped he could sometime forget.

General Bleylock.

Sonny could tell D'Jok felt uncomfortable.

"This was before he tipped over D'Jok,Bleylock was not always a bad man. Things happened in his life that you and I will never understand.

He came from a world much different from ours" Sonny said as he looked at it.

"We were friends once he and I, I never got where it all went wrong for him, I just knew,I tried, but I could not save him" he said.

Then, as he put the picture into the rucksack, Sonny made a detour to his old bedroom.

This was where D'Jok had been made. Sonny could still recall fond memories from happier times in this room.

Laughs, playfulness and lots of tender moments. He smiled as he reached for Helenas night stand. Her jewelery box.

He opened it, and looked at them all. Some of these, there would be a day when D'Jok would possibly have a daughter himself.

Someone to pass these precious necklaces on to. Sonny put the box into his rucksack.

He would have Artie do some cleansing of it all before D'Jok could pick his momentum of his mother.

Sonny smiled as they made their way back to the snow mobile to return to Aarch Academy...

* * *

The snow kids prepared for their departure to the Shadows planet for their away match.

Aliya and Zack had each been given a folder with information about their identity by Sonny, to answer any questions that would arise during a press conferance.

The two pirates players were understandingly a bit nervous, this time they would be separated from their peers, and had no back up.

But Sonny sat them both down and talked through it with them, leaving them feeling a lot better.

As the snow kids shuttle took off, Sonny had prepared the finished antidote against Magnus Virus.

It had been tested and found to work. Micro Ice had been the first to receive the treatment.

Sonny had checked his flux samples and found the antidote to work exactly as planned.

The snow kid was now showing improvement and should be ready to play again within a few matches.

Mei had also received her antidote, and showed a full recovery,but Sonny still felt it best she pass this match, till they were absolutely sure that this worked.

As the pirates and the Lightnings were left alone, Sonny prepared to administer the antidote to Tommy.

Stevens had kept a watchful eye on the kid from his role on the hospital, but some of the staff started to get suspicious to his real identity, and he needed be pulled out.

Tommys mother was upset over that, as Stevens had been a real help to her, but she realised that for his safety, he had to go.

Someone else from the pirates would take his place. But she had no idea of who would come.

As she sat by Tommys bedside, a new apparant doctor came in. Wait..if Stevens was familiar, this was an even more familiar face.

Sonny Blackbones in person. Sonny signalled for her to be silent.

"I am here as a friend. Your son is one of my sons players. Lets see if we can help him finally get back to his normal self shall we?" he asked with a smile.

Tommys mother nodded. This pirate..his eyes were filled with calm and warmth. No man could be a hardened criminal and act like this.

It seemed to her, Technoid had spread a lot of lies about this man.

And that made it very believable that what neighbours of her, who secretly supported the pirates, had told was true.

Sonny Blackbones was not a criminal, but a hero to the galaxy, a protector. and right now, he was here to save her son.

As soon as he had given the syringe, Sonny set a timer, he only had 15 minutes before he had to leave.

To stay any longer, was not safe for anyone that was a pirate. As soon as the time was up, Sonny winked at the mother.

"I cant stay any longer. I am still wanted by Technoid and this is their turf. Please, update Warren on the status, he knows how to reach me" he said.

When she looked up again, he was gone...

* * *

Corso kept an eye out on the ventilation ducts Sonny used to make his escape.

For some reason, he had a very uneasy feeling about it all. Going into a Technoid operated hospital amounted to suicide.

And here Sonny had gotten in with no problems, getting out..was a different story.

Artie had problems getting hold of the proper plans, but after some frustrating hours, he finally succeeded.

The plans was transfered to a small pocket size computer that Sonny had on him.

And now, Sonny was following the planned escape route on the map. But something was not right. The plans did not show correctly.

Sonny ran into several obstacles on the way, that should not be there. This made Corso send Artie a glare.

"Just when I thought you could not possibly mess up anymore, you go and show the oposite. Artie, it is the wrong map!

No wonder Sonny is having trouble getting out. Find me the correct plans for the building, so he can get out, or you are on toilet scrubbing duty for two months" Corso growled.

Bennett had hacked the video cameras. He looked at all the people in the hospital.

"Corso, exactly where is Sonny now in those ducts? There is a maintenance to be carried out in the ducts...today" Bennett informed.

Corso sent him a shocked look, before he grew very pale."This cant be, we need to get him out of there, NOW!" Corso stated.

He tried to call sonny, but found the signal was jammed."Is any signal from transmitters also going down there today?" He asked.

Bennett nodded.

"It is a complete overhaul, everything is checked. Stevens had put the cameras in the vents out of commission but..." Bennett started, before Corso cut him off.

"Repeat that last sentence about Stevens Bennett, slowly" he asked. Bennett did. And to his horror, he realised what Corso was getting at.

"In Shilohs name..this is bad" he whispered.

Artie looked worried at them.

"What in the galaxy is going on" he asked.

Corso looked at Artie.

"This is bad news Artie, when those cameras are turned back on, guess what it will show?" he asked.

Artie paled when he realised what Corso meant.

"Oh No" he whispered in horror.

Thanks to your blunder, Sonny is trapped in the airvents"...

* * *

_Yep, here goes the cliffhanger. What did Artie do. And how in the galaxy will Sonny get out of this. All this and more in the next chapter. Please review if you like the story._


	15. Chapter 15

Magnus was looking at the cameras inside the air vents of the hospital. He really would have prefered not having to do this.

But with all of his actions, and with what knowledge Sonny now had,there was no way he could make him listen to reason.

Sonny was normally a very strategic and rational man, but his dealings now involved his son,the galactik kids, his future team, and Mei and Micro Ice.

Sonny would not let that pass in silence. Magnus sighed.

He had a silent hope to be able to convince the pirates that was loyal to Sonny, to join his cause, making the pirates a stronger organization.

Sonny too would be welcome to join, but he would then have to accept him as the leader. And that,he knew Sonny would not stand silent and accept.

So, to persuade them, he needed Sonny out of the way.

He did not want him killed, so he had hacked the robots in the Technoid operated hospital, and given them an order, to have Sonny Blackbones arrested, but dont harm him if possible.

Now, according to the timelimits the pirates operated on, Sonny should be attempting to make his way out right now.

Magnus swept through the cameras, till he finally caught glimpse of him. Sector 7, level 3.

Magnus then initiated the close down of the hatches, and activated the cameras in the areas Sonny was seen, then,to assure success, he cut all communication lines on the level.

Time to have Technoid hone in on the pirate chief...

* * *

"Someone just cut all communication lines to the hospital. I cant see Sonny, or reach his communicator. We have also lost all visual contact with him. Someone has hacked the system" Artie yelled.

The panic in his voice did not go unnoticed.

"We have to get him out of there" said Corso, who franticly tried to establish contact with Sonny.

"It is a trap, someone is remotely closing off all escape routes. He needs to go upwards, using the cables of the elevators, instead of down, that may give him a chance to get out" said Bennett.

The three pirates were stressed out as they could not reach Sonny.

"We need to find a way to communicate with him. Sonny cant keep doing this for too long. If this is a trap, I want to know who set him up, and for what purpose" Corso said.

He was tense as he looked at screens on videocameras, all appearing to follow Sonny.

But the problem was, he could not access them, or find a way to get a signal to Sonnys transmitter.

As it looked now, the pirates had to find a way in, where they could help their leader escape. And so far, they were drawing blanks.

Corso had a feeling of who was behind it.

"Magnus Blade, if this is your doing and Sonny is taken prisoner by Technoid, I will skin you alive" he said.

He managed to pull up the map of the hospital, and started looking for possible emergency exits...

* * *

Something was not right here. Sonny checked his transmitter. No signal. That was odd, as a hospital this size was dependent on signal for their equipment.

It was also strange how the escape routes he had planned to make use of, seemed to be mysteriously closed off.

Like someone was deliberately forcing him in a spesific direction.

This had all hallmarks of a trap, but since there was no other choice, he had follow the direction he was given.

Sonny checked what was available in his jacket and on his personal armour. All pirates carried concealed weapons, and other gadgets.

Being their leader, Sonny was made to carry more than one of these hidden kits, A safety measure Corso had put in place after a near mishap.

The magnets that they used to stop droids could be reversed, that could come in handy.

Well, if he was walking into a trap, wich looked more and more likely, he would not surrender without a fight...

* * *

Corso and Stevens had made it to the hospital with a four man team.

And by now it was obvious that Sonny had been detected, and that they tried to cut off any possibility he had of escape.

The Technoid police cars spoke volumes.

Stevens had, through the help of his wife, managed to find an authentic map of the section of the building Sonny was trapped in, and showed them a few possible routes, that would not be affected by the automated systems.

Now, if they could only find a way to communicate with him... Corso had noticed how the signal on their transmitters were jammed.

There was no doubt now.

This was a trap, set to capture Sonny, and by the looks of it, unless they got to him in time, Technoid would succeed in capturing him this time.

Corso and Stevens made their way to this emergency exit, and crawled in. Now, the time was ticking, and not in their favour...

* * *

The snow kids had reached the shadows planet.

Sinedd had spent a lot of time on their way there, speaking with his sister Sunja, to distract his thoughts from the ongoing turmoil within.

This was his former team mates, he used to be their captain. How would they greet him now? With hate and resentment?

The shadows were a team that believed in emotions of any kind being a sign of weakness. And that was not him anymore, not after he found his parents.

As he ended the call, he saw D'Jok approach him.

"Are you feeling ready for this Sinedd?" he asked, with a hand to his shoulder.

That gesture, and D'Joks obvious concern, made him snap out of his self pity.

"I am fine D'Jok. just a little concerned with how hard I will be tackled by them today.

After deserting them for the snow kids, they are bound to hold some resentment towards me" Sinedd stated.

D'Jok nodded.

"Team Paradisia treated me the same way after I left them. And that is not even real human beings, but Cyborgs.

Technology has come a long way when it can produce machines like that. And we will meet them later in the competition too" D'Jok reminded him.

Sinedd nodded.

"It makes you wonder, just what kind of technology this Magnus Blade really has available doesnt it? It seems very advanced to me" he said,

D'Jok agreed with him.

"I just hope Dad and the pirates can take him down. I know they have upgraded a lot since the abduction.

What is going down now, it is making Dad seeth with anger. Good thing Corso is there to help him keep a cool head.

I for one would have lost it by now" he admitted.

Sinedd nodded.

"Lets get ready to beat the shadows"...

* * *

The match proved tougher than he had expected. The Shadows sent him glares from the moment they set foot on the pitch.

Well, he had expected that from them. Total hostility.

And as he crashed into one of them in a block tackle..if looks could kill...Sinedd knew they felt betrayed by him.

And maybe they were well within their rights too. Sinedd struggled not to let the anger overtake him.

He could see Aliya who played defence in Meis place, use the breath of Akillian. That was an amazing sight.

How had the pirates learned to use the breath like this, and still separate their own flux, the seed of shiloh, from being used?

He realised that the pirates had to have a very special training manual.

And since he still struggled, especially when angry, with his former flux, maybe the pirates could help him control it and if possible, block it from manifesting in him again?

Sinedd decided to focus on the game for now, and ask Sonny Blackbones for help later on...

* * *

Corso and Stevens had crawled into the old ventilation ducts, in an effort to reach Sonny, whom seemed to have been boxed in, inside the ducts.

The ducts here was far more narrow than the ones Sonny was in, making progress slow, but Corso did not let that stop him.

He had to get Sonny safely out of there.

On the other side of the wall, they could hear footsteps."Techno droids, we are close then" Corso stated.

Stevens nodded.

"Can your eye pierce the wall? If this corridor runs parallel to the duct Sonny is in, we may be able to help him get out" Stevens said.

Corso nodded and ushered Stevens to a safe distance to blast the wall.

The blast from Corsos cybernetic was strong, and it would be unwise to challenge him. Now, he blasted the wall at full force. But they were in for a surprise.

"Not even a scratch!That cant be"Corso exclaimed, more than normally baffled.

Stevens checked the wall.

"It has been reinforced Corso, with an unknown metal" he said.

Corso also checked it.

"The same alloy Magnus used to reinforce his strong hold. It seems he built the perfect trap, and if I cant blast it open, there is no way to get Sonny out.

If Technoid find we have no weapons to deal with this, They are sure to make a prison for him out of this, one we cant free him from.

If we cant free him, Technoid will finally have him right where they want him. And who knows what they will do to him then" Corso said.

Stevens was more optimistic.

"Lets keep looking for a weak spot Corso, and hope Sonny has the stamina to keep running from them for a little longer"...

* * *

The match was over. An aggressive Shadows team had made this match end in a draw, 2 to 2.

It was not bad, but the snow kids, more out of old habit than anything else, wished that they could have won the match.

They hurried up to get out of there, sinedd did not feel like drawing out his stay.

They hurried on board, and as soon as they were ready, they made their way home.

Aliya was exhausted from the match. Zack had been in the substitute position, and now he took seat next to her.

"So, how was it like to play with the snow kids?" he asked.

"It was childs play compared to our trainings. Sonny comes across as drill instructor in comparison" she chuckled.

"So, feeling like switching teams then?" Zack teased.

"Nope, Im a pirate, and that is the team that will win this years tournament, you can bet on it. I cant wait to see the Electras Pirates match next week.

It will be our very first flux match. I bet Sonny will expect us to play all out and win.

He knew we could not before, but things are different now." she said, full of confidence.

Zack nodded.

"I agree, The pirates will be a real shocker this year. Stronger than ever, thanks to Magnus Blade.

I believe Sonny found a way to keep us from being tracked as well. He still has a lot to study about this flux though.

I heard it is very old, and with a violent history. Hopefully, Sonny can make it out so we have that piece of our story restored." he said.

Ailya smiled.

"Until then, we just keep fighting" she said...

* * *

Sonny stopped for a second to catch his breath. They had been chasing him around for a good two hours now. And still no signal.

This was a trap, a real good one. He never figured Technoid to pull anything like this. It was not their style. But if not Technoid, then who?

The answer came to his mind faster than he expected. Magnus off course.

This was his revenge, and it seemed he was going to hand him over to Technoid. That made him grit teeth. Why?

Magnus knew as well as he did, the wheeling and dealings of the cursed company. Once, he himself stole from them, hell,he still stole from them.

That much they had in common. And now, Magnus had his own agenda, and this agenda, whatever it was, it seemed he was an obstacle to.

It dawned on Sonny why. The position as leader of the pirates, off course. Magnus was too chicken to take him on in battle it seemed.

Or was there more to it than he knew? The sound of the droids approaching made Sonny realise he had no more time to think this over.

He had to keep moving. These droids seemed to pick up his trail faster than normal. Someone was guiding them directly to him.

A quick look up made Sonny realise the entire area was rigged with cameras. Ok, so that was how they did it.

Well, he could even the score some with that, by taking them out.

Sonny raised his vapour laser and took aim.

"If You want me, you are going to have to work to get me, I wont lie down easily. And cameras is cheating" he said as he shot out the cameras...

* * *

Magnus noticed how at least 4 cameras stopped working after Sonny shot them out.

Well, by doing this, he gave his location to Technoid as well as him.

"Sorry Sonny, but it is in the pirates as an organizations best interest that you are taken by Technoid. They wont harm you.

I know you will escape soon enough, they dont have what it takes to keep you locked up.

But the pirates need a leader for the future, and that leader is not going to be you"...

* * *

Corso and Stevens decided to make another attempt, this time, the wall seemed older, maybe they could make a hole for Sonny to escape through here.

Corso blasted the wall as hard as he could.

Maybe it was the fear for his friend involved, or maybe the blast was harder than intended, but it made a small hole in the wall.

Unfortunately, not big enough to let a human escape through. Corso could see Sonny make his way out of one of the tunnels.

"Sonny! Over here"he yelled. Sonny approached the wall, and Corso could hear he was short on breath.

"Stand back, I will try to widen this hole, how far are the Techno droids?"Corso asked in a slight panic.

Sonny checked, still holding his vapour laser ready.

"They are getting closer, but there is still time, I will hold them off, work on getting the hole big enough for me to pass through it.

We got plenty of work to do after we get out of here" Sonny said.

As Sonny stood back, taking cover from the approaching droids, Corso got to work.

He blasted the wall with all he had, and nothing happened. Not even a scratch.

Stevens realised they had just found a tiny weak spot in the meta alloy, and it was nowhere near big enough for Sonny to get through and to safety.

"Sonny...Its not working, my blast isnt strong enough to penetrate the metal" Corso said, feeling defeated.

Sonny approached them again, having shot a blast that misled the droids for now, however it would not last long before they were back on his trail.

Sonny knew what this meant. He had to make a decision that would be hard on everyone, but for now, there was no other way.

"Corso, you wont like this one bit, but we are out of options. All exits are sealed off.

Someone has hacked the system of the hospital,someone that wants me out of the way, I will let you guess as to whom that might be" Sonny said, as he kept a close ear out for the droids that would soon approach.

"We are not leaving you here Sonny, forget it, we will get you out" Corso said desperately.

"You have to abandon mission Corso, there is no time to penetrate the wall in time, nor do we have the time. Technoid finally succeeded in capturing me this time" he said.

Corso could not believe what he heard.

"I will blast this wall Sonny, I just need a little more time..Technoid wont get you today" he started.

Sonny cut him off.

"Corso,One life is worth sacrificing to keep the pirates safe. I will be fine. Technoid wants me alive, find the plans Sinedd shared, and work it from there.

When you two exit, you will take my place until I can get out of this Corso." Sonny said.

Corso looked at him,trying to find the words that would persuade Sonny from going forth with this plan, but then, he noticed how close the droids was getting to them.

"There is no time Corso. I cant keep running much longer." Sonny said. Corsos eye widened in shock when he realised what Sonny was about to do.

"Sonny, no, dont do it. We have no idea what they will do to you" he tired. Sonny understood his friend, but they were out of time.

The best he could do, was spare his friend the sight of this arrest.

"I will find somewhere else to start shooting at them.I dont want you to see the arrest go down Corso, and I dont want you or Stevens seen.

Till we meet again, you lead the pirates in my place, tell D'Jok not to worry, I'll be fine. We will deal with Magnus soon enough" Sonny said.

Then he rose, preparing to make a new run. "Sonny...please.. dont do this..." Corso was desperate.

Sonny turned to look at him. "It is not an ask Corso. Its an order. Now,go! Get out of here" he said.

Corso knew Sonny was right. But he felt hesitant to follow the order given. Stevens nudged him.

"You heard him Corso, we need to get out of has a plan, be sure of that. He needs us on the outside to execute it." he said.

Corso nodded. But he had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

"Be careful Sonny, whatever you are planning. The pirates cant afford to loose you"...

* * *

The mood aboard the snow kids shuttle was easy, as the snow kids did not pout over a draw for long.

And Aliya, their borrowed player was given plenty of praise.

The snow kids loved her inventive way of using The breath of Akilian on the pitch and had plenty of questions regarding the training they all had with their main team.

Aliya and Zack both laughed and told them how Sonny and Corso would litterally have them all trying to catch their breath during practice, only to have to take it a notch higher.

"For once, I am happy we got Rocket as our coach. I like Sonny, but he sounds like he is one of the toughest coaches in the galaxy" said Thran.

"I could handle it, as long as he lets me sleep in the net" said Ahito.

"That I doubt anyone would be allowed. I went with them on a mission. Sonny is not the kind of person to let you slack of, that is for sure" Tia laughed.

Mei smirked.

"Maybe he needs more women onboard, the effect we have on men, maybe they would learn to relax" Mei suggested.

That made Aliya and Zack laugh heartfelt.

"Corso suggested Sonny should get himself a maid or girlfriend on board once. I thought Sonny would choke on his dinner.

I am not sure Corso would have been punished for that comment or not, but Sonny had Corso do house cleaning on board as a result.

I think he felt Corso went too far" laughed Zack.

"It sounds like Dad really runs a tight ship, all work and no play" D'Jok laughed.

"That may be, but no one has ever been in power for as long as he has among the pirates.

It used to be a very dangerous place I have heard, at least, until Sonny was elected leader.

He has made it more safe, if one can ever say that life as a pirate could be deemed safe." Zack said with a smirk.

"I am curious to learn the past of our recently discovered flux. The file recovered was gigantic.

I cant believe it has been stuck in the system, and none of us managed to find it.

Guess Magnus did not do a good enough job at covering his tracks with what he deleted.

And as soon as Sonny knows all the details, he will really be making head way with our new flux.

It really pays off to have the one that invented and then deconstructed a synthetic flux among us" Aliya said.

They were interrupted by a call to Zacks transmitter. He got up and went away from the others to respond to the call.

When he returned, Zack appeared pale.

"Aliya,D'Jok, Clamp..may I speak to the three of you, in private?" he asked.

D'Jok and Aliya nodded, and got up, as Clamp came with them. The other snow kids could sense something was very wrong.

Something had happened, and whatever that was, it had scared Zack.

"Maybe there is something about this on Arcadia news?" suggested Mei, and took the remote control.

As soon as the holo tv turned on,Mei was proven right. Callie Mystic appeared, gravely serious.

There had been an intrusion in a Technoid operated hospital,no one knew who had been the intended target, but the pirate leader, Sonny Blackbones had tried to flee the premises.

Security cameras had caught him, after a maintenance check, and the pirate had been pushed into a corner by Technoid secuirty staff.

The pirate had not surrendered without a fight despite several warnings, and he had been wounded.

He was now in Technoids care, and would be made to stand trail as soon as he had recovered from his injury.

Until further notice, Sonny Blackbones was held in captivity on an undisclosed destination by Technoid...

* * *

_yes, it finally happened. Sonny is imprisoned by Technoid. And Corso has to take the lead in having his best friend freed. How will DJok handle this, and how will this affect the story. Keep reading, you are in for a surprise or more. _


	16. Chapter 16

Technoid hospital, Genesis stadium..

"Make sure he cant escape!" Duke Maddox ordered.

Inside the ventilation duct,Sonny could feel the blood dripping from where the laser had hit him in the chest. He tried pulling back, into cover, despite knowing it would do little to no good.

He was trapped, pushed into a corner. Well, he would not make this easy for them. If necessary, he would shoot his way out.

As Sonny quickly peeked around the corner, he took a second laser blast to next to the one he already had. Sonny knew he was injured. He needed help.

He staggered towards the robots, until his knees buckled and he fell to the ground...

* * *

The Duke had sent in a humanoid sharpshooter team. And they could tell that the pirate chief was injured.

"He is injured, Your Excellency. Two blasts to the chest. Most would have died from this" The team leader reported, as his team reached the unconscious pirate chief on the floor.

"Blasted! Is he dead or alive?" The Duke asked.

"He is still alive, his pulse is a little weaker than I expect. If we take him to the emergency room, they should bandage him up and we would be ready to take him to the prison soon after that" The team leader reported.

Duke Maddox nodded.

"Have it done"...

* * *

Corso and Stevens, along with other pirates, had managed to hack the Technoid channels and paid close attention to what was being reported.

"They will treat him at the hospital, after that, they plan to transport him to a prison facility." Stevens reported.

Corso gritted teeth.

"Wanna bet the prison facility has the same metal alloy in it as we encountered inside the duct walls?" he asked.

Stevens nodded.

"We must prevent them from removing him from hospital grounds" Stevens said.

Corso was a bit more relaxed.

"He has been hit twice in the chest. It would be a deadly strike for most, what saved him, is most likely Sonnys exceptional physique and the fact that he has a high level of mastery over a healing flux. From what I read, the story of the Seed of Shiloh, indicates, Sonny should be doing fine if his flux starts the inner repair work. But we still need to make a plan to extract him from there." Corso stated.

Bennett had looked up who the doctor that was set to treat Sonny was.

"Corso, Sonnys treating doctor is one of our hidden agents. Should I send him a coded message?" he asked.

Corso nodded.

"Tell him to stall things for Sonny. That we will free him, and need a map of the room he will be placed in. Make sure it is somewhere we can escape through the ducts, prefeerably unseen. And in the meantime, to have us updated on Sonnys condition. We will make sure he is fine. Then, we will make a rescue plan"...

* * *

As Sonny woke up, he found himself handcuffed to a hospital bed. And with further checking, that was also the case with his feets. His red jacket was in a plastic bag and he had a hospital gown on. He could feel that some type of bandage had been put around his chest. As he slowly sat up, he started to cough hard.

"Finally awake,Blackbones?" said a familiar voice to his right.

Sonny turned his head slightly, at least the chains of the handcuffs were long enough for him to reach his mouth.

"Or stuck in a nightmare. You finally succeeded in capturing me Your Excellency. Congratulations on a mission achieved. Too bad you would not have succeeded without outside help." he stated.

"This was bound to happen now, you have been admitted by your treating doctor. He does not seem to think Technoid knows how to care for laser blasts to the chest. Until he declares you fit, Technoid has no way to transport you to your new home" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"You know the pirates will find a way to foil your plan.I am their leader. It is only a matter of time, before they make their move. Dont worry for me your Excellency. I will make it out of here before you can transport me anywhere" he said.

Duke Maddox grinned.

"In a hospital with ventilation ducts reinforced with a metal alloy your men cant blast? Not even you are that lucky. This time, we got you, and we will slowly bring you back to the company. Either willingly, or forcibly, that is all your choice" Duke Maddox said.

Sonny gritted teeth. This could turn into a real jam, and fast. With that metal alloy in place, he really would be trapped. Now, all he could hope for, was Corso being on top of it all...

* * *

D'Jok felt frozen inside with what Corso had told him over Zacks communicator.

His dad was captured by Technoid. From what the pirates knew, Sonny had sustained an injury to the chest, and had been admitted to the hospital where the incident took place, for further treatment. The treating doctor was an undercover pirate, and Corso had assured D'Jok, Sonny was in good hands, and would remain so, until he could be safely helped out and freed. For now, Sonny was given a rare moment to rest, one that was needed.

"He will be angered by what Magnus pulled D'Jok, so expect him to make a strategy plan by the time we return to Aarch Academy. I feel it best to set up a temporary base in there, for Sonnys sake. He may need some medical attention from Dame Simbai, and in the Aarch Academy, we have immunity, and also a safe haven. It would be a safe place to have someone Assess Sonnys injury. But where all this leads, I would fear for the outcome of this. Magnus and Sonny wont see eye to eye on this. Those two are going to end up in a fight over the role as leader of the pirates. And Magnus is an accomplished sword fighter. Sonny knows how to defend himself, but in this dicipline, Magnus may be better." Corso admitted.

D'Jok was terrified at what he heard.

"What will happen if Dad looses this battle Corso? Will this Magnus Blade try to kill him?" he managed.

Corso shook his head.

"If Sonny loose the battle, Magnus will claim the title as leader. Then one out of two possibilities will happen. One, Sonny is offered refuge, but has to submit to Magnus ways of doing things. This could even lead to him being locked up in a holding cell. And it is unlikely to think Sonny would do that. And two, Magnus will exile Sonny, leaving him wide open for Technoid to find and capture him. In such a matter, Magnus would not be breaking any rules by alerting them to his whereabouts, and could claim the bounty for his capture.

Should so happen, Sonny wont be alone. Bennett, Artie, I, Stevens, the football team, and several others will follow him. With Magnus at the helm of our organization,it would lead to a divided organization. With Sonny at the helm, there will be unity. But for now, the focus is to find a way to safely free Sonny. And I think I know how to do this safely. As soon as its done, We will come to Akillian and Aarch Academy. You will see your father soon D'Jok" Corso promised.

D'Jok nodded this. At the moment, he could do nothing to assist the rescue operation. This was pirates territory. They would make sure this was done in the best way.

"Ok Corso, just make sure to take good care of him"...

* * *

Magnus enjoyed the news that Sonny had been taken by Technoid. His trap had worked like a charm. Knowing what blast power the pirates, Corso in particular, had, had allowed him to remotely fix the calculations for Technoid, to a point where they could withstand an attack from the pirates in Sonnys camp to break in. Now that the problem with Sonny Blackbones was dealt with, he needed to find the frequenzy that Sonnys men used. And they had shut all of his channels out. He had his men sweep the systems for bugs they could have planted off course, but none had been detected. He had also successfully made Sonnys men busy with the galactik kids, and the two affected snow kids. As Magnus looked at the screen, he gritted teeth. Blasted! Sonny had managed to completely neutralize the virus in their systems. Their flux was no longer affected, and he had no way to get to them now. The pirates had installed a safety installation on all operative holo trainers. Well, they had no idea what kind of havoc he could cause. The future teams was still just kids, and as soon as they reached the zombie state, he would have his new cyborg team, a team with a natural flux. Why no one had thought of trying this before, he did not know, and frankly, he did not care. All that mattered, was his continued success. Then, he looked at the gauges on little Tommy. What! The process that looked so promising, had ground to a complete halt. There was a substance interfering with his plan. Magnus looked closer. His eye widened. No, this could not be... No research was this advanced. How could... Then he realised the truth. Sonny! He had given him and his pirates a flux, to put a locator on them for Technoid. But this locator, Sonny had found a way to protect them from. And the flux, The seed of Shiloh... He had gravely miscalculated its effects. It seemed the old story he had read was indeed true. It was a healers flux, and a flux that could be used to help others. This made him grit teeth.

Then, a devious smile. If he played his cards right, Sonny could hold the key to a cure for everyone. Maybe the way to keep the pirates under his control, was not to exile Sonny, but hold him prisoner, to extract flux to make a cure. Infected players would be willing to pay good money for a cure of the virus. Using technology from planet Xzion had been a brilliant , he needed to plan how to put this in motion. Soon, the galaxy would bow before him as their new emperor...

* * *

"Corso, come see this!" Artie said from his desk.

Corso moved over to the other pirates work station.

The message board was filled with messages, promising the pirates a better organization, better management and better pay, if they would desert Sonnys fraction and rejoin him, Magnus Blade, in an effort to make the pirates a stronger organization than they had ever been before. The message also mentioned Sonny now being captured by Technoid, rendering the pirates without real leadership. This made Corso grit teeth. This was a low blow from Magnus, attacking his own, Sonnys men, when Sonny was captured. Corso knew, they had no choice but free Sonny now.

"Bennett, check with Sonnys treating doctor, to see if he can be transported out safely, today. We will use the same device as the football team, to make sure we, or Sonny, are not seen. Also, prepare some of the cocktails in case of humanoids, and extra magnetic discs to deal with robots. We are not leaving that hospital without Sonny Blackbones. Also, come to think of it, prepare a secondary mix, if Sonny should be in pain during an escape, I prefer letting him sleep through it. I will carry him personally if that is what it takes" Corso ordered.

As Bennett saluted, Corso made ready a list of men for this rescue mission...

* * *

Tommys mother saw her son slowly improve,and get out of coma. But the progress seemed slow, and she was loosing money by being here day by day. But he, her only son, was worth it. Then, she had seen the news. And the guilt had hit her hard. Technoid had captured Sonny..because of her. He had come to see her son, and give him something that seemed to work, however, a bit slow. And now, Technoid had captured him, while he tried to escape. It was reported that he was injured too. And that he was in this hospital. Maybe... She never gave it a second thought. As Tommy was sleeping lightly, she decided to find out where Sonny was held captive. This was a hospital. Tommy would be safe alone. She made her way into the hallways. And it did not take long to see the room that had a humanoid guard. She knew they were not very smart. Perhaps she could repay him some for the help he had given her son? She decided to be sneaky, and put on a flirtatious side to her persona, to have the humanoid let her see the scary pirate chief in person. It could do no harm, and would help her overcome her fear. Besides, the pirate chief was chained up right? He could not hurt her.

The humanoid guard fell for it, and had had let her in. She could see Sonny lay on a hospital bed, dressed in one of those awful hospital gowns. His hands was securely chained to the bed, as was the case with his feet.

She felt a tear form in her eye. This man was no criminal. He was a vigilante, fighting for him and his men to have their freedom, and the galaxy to stay safe. Slowly, she moved closer to the bed. He appeared to be sleeping. She placed a hand lightly at his hand. Only to fight back a scream with a set of hazels looked straight at her, and also his hand grabbed hers.

Sonny signalled for her to be silent. To attract guards now could be fatal.

"How is Tommy?" he whispered.

"He is getting better, but the process is slow" she said.

Sonny nodded.

"I will have someone sent to pick you and your son up and brought to Akillian. We have some friends there that will help us cure him." he promised.

"But how? You are under arrest by Technoid now, and you are injured" she objected.

Sonny smirked.

"The pirates has a plan to solve this matter. Be prepared, Technoid will have no idea of what happened, or even when. But by the time they serve supper, I will already be gone and in safety with my men" Sonny smirked at her.

She looked at him. Then, a calm came over her. She had heard the stories. Sonny Blackbones was man she felt she could trust.

"Tell me Sonny, what can I do to help you?"

* * *

_To keep suspence for the next chapter, you got to wonder how this will play out and what Sonny knows. Did someone tell him, or did he figure it out by himself. This and more to be answered soon_


	17. Chapter 17

It was night at Genesis hospital. A silent night so far. The humanoid guard outside the room where the imprisoned pirate chief Sonny Blackbones was held captive, was choking a yawn. This night was boring. No holo tv to watch. A sound made him turn towards the corner. An empty soda can. The cleaning staff here was not doing their job right. He picked up the can, and found he had to turn a corner to find a trash can to toss it. Not for one second did he think to check the top of the elevator where three pirates made their way into the ducts...

* * *

Stevens was disguised as a nursing assistant again. His wife, bless her heart, had scheduled him to the room where Sonny was held. Stevens was a bit nervous about the injury Sonny had to his chest. To get him safely out, they would still need to use the air vents. And because of Technoid, the doctor had no chance to speak to Sonny alone and inform him on what was going on. This would be an improvised mission. Stevens decided to stop by Tommys room, it was on his way to Sonnys room, and he had to wait for Corso to message him before he entered. As he peeked in, he saw that Tommy was still a bit drouzy, but awake. His mother sat next to him. When she saw him, she smiled.

"Derek. It is wonderful to see you again" she exclaimed.

Stevens had to smile, despite the seriousness of the situation.

"How is our future football champ doing?" he asked.

"Better, when can I start to play again? I want to show D'Jok and Warren just how good I got with the slide tackles" Tommy said.

Stevens smiled. The kid had not recognized him, wich allowed him to stay in hiding for now.

"Ma'am, can I have a word..in private?" he asked.

Tommys mother got up. Stevens took her into a small empty room and shut the door.

"My wife told me, you managed to persuade the guard at Sonnys room, to see him alone last night. Corso, Sonnys right hand man asked me to talk to you. We need to know, how bad is his injury? His doctor could not speak to him alone. Technoid is keeping close eye on him. As soon as he is declared fit, they will forcefully remove him from here, to an undisclosed location. We know where this is, but we also know, the facility has been reinforced with a kind of metal alloy that the pirates has not yet figured how to breach. If Sonny is successfully transfered to this facility, we have no idea what will happen to him. Technoid wont kill him, that much we know, but they have a reputation for using former employees that escaped them as guinea pigs for mind control experiements. We fear this is what is in store for Sonny." Stevens said.

Tommys mother nodded.

"It is true, I saw him in the room. They keep him handcuffed to the bed, arms and legs. His gear is in there, but out of reach for him. I feel almost like they are taunting him with it. The handcuffs is made of a new kind of metal. He told me, Corso could not blast it. It has him a bit worried" she said.

Stevens nodded.

"Is there any chance you can help us with a lay out of the room? We have a limited time. I need as much information as possible. My wife set me to serve the meal to Sonnys room. I may only have a few minutes. And I will surely be escorted by the guard too. I wont be able to talk to him. Technoid is on edge now that they finally have him. Freeing him wont be easy. They must have something big planned for him. And whatever that is, we are going to foil it" Stevens said.

Tommys mother smiled. And then, she handed him a note.

"It seems Sonny knows you all well. This is a map of the room that he drew in a matter of minutes. Even with handcuffs on both hands, Technoid cant seem to stop him" she said with a smile.

Stevens looked at the map, then he looked at her. A smile formed on his face.

"I am glad you got to see him. We will get him out. You will see him on Akillian, when he is back to his old self, and not in chains."

Stevens called Corso and spoke in ancient Shiloh in a whispering voice. As soon as he ended the call, he looked at Tommys mother.

"On behalf of the pirates, please accept our most sincere thank you. Thanks to your bravery, we will be able to free Sonny and bring him to a safe place to recover"...

* * *

As the snow kids arrived at the Aarch Academy, Mei noticed how D'Jok withdrew. The news of his fathers arrest had really shook him. Then, again, he had just been in technoid arrest himself. And he did not want to talk about that experience. All she knew was, Micro Ice had told her, Sonny had sat down with him, and talked it out, and the following day, Sonny had taken D'Jok for a father and son day, they had been away for hours, with a snow mobile, before they returned. D'Jok had seemed relieved in a way that was hard to explain after that. And Sonny had been very secretive after they returned. But what mattered was, D'Jok had time alone with his father, several hours, just the two of them. For that to even happen was rare, Sonny always being wanted allowed for little of this happen. Mei knocked on the door.

"Its open" D'Jok called out. Mei went in.

"I saw it on the news D'Jok. I cant believe they actually captured him. Have you heard anything back from Corso? Do they know if he is badly injured?" Mei asked, looking at him.

D'Jok smiled.

" The doctor treating him, is a secret pirate agent. He had dad admitted, till Corso can come in and get him out. I dont know what they are planning, but Corso said not to worry. He sounded confident I will see dad soon. They will return to Akillian as soon as Dad is free" D'Jok said.

Mei nodded.

"Trust Corso D'Jok. Sonny will be free and safe before the end of the night. They will bring him safely back here. If Corso makes a promise, I know for sure he will keep it"...

* * *

Stevens was feeling nervous. He approached Sonnys hospital room slowly. The humanoid guard stopped him.

"You cant refuse him food. Prisoner or not, Sonny Blackbones has the right to three meals a day. And for someone with an injury, it is important he gets nourishment, so he can heal faster" he said.

The humanoid guard looked at him.

"I am not allowed to leave anyone inside with him alone" he said.

That figured. Stevens nodded. This would be trickier than he had thought. But he needed to get in, and activate his small camera. He could leave the pen in there, out of reach for Sonny off course, since they had him in chains, but Corso needed a visual on him, from inside. Stevens complied with the guards demands. As he entered. He looked straight into Sonnys hazel eyes.

A quick little second, he froze, seeing Sonny handcuffed like this was horrible. But Sonny sent him a gaze that told him to no expose his cover.

Stevens slowly approached his bed after the guard said to leave the trolley he pushed at a safe distance from the prisoner. Stevens took the things he needed to take the samples Sonnys doctor had asked, and the tray of food.

"Good evening Mr Blackbones. I am here to collect the samples requested by your treating doctor, and to give you the prescribed sedatives, to ensure you have a peaceful night. And also, I brought your supper. Do you want to eat first, or have the samples drawn first?" he managed, surprising himself with his calm.

Sonny looked at , the nametag he was carrying.

"Do the medical work first Derek. I believe the bandages needs change too. They feel a bit more wet to the skin than they should. I dont think Technoid would want me to grow worse from an infection now" he said.

Stevens nodded that. The pirates also did not want that. Stevens opened Sonnys hospital gown and pulled it down. He could see how blood had seeped through the bandages. This wound was clearly not well stitched. Corso would have to do his magic as soon as Sonny was brought to safety.

"I got sutures here. It seems the wound is either bleeding or the stitches has come undone. Do you want me to call the doctor?" he asked.

Sonny shook his head, he had noticed the humanoid guard looking faint. The sight of blood was clearly his weakness. Maybe this opened for some chance to communicate.

"You do it Derek. No need to stall things, and others will also be waiting for their meals. This should be a quick fix" he said.

Stevens opened up the necessary packs he needed, and pulled a chair close to Sonnys bed. He took a pair of sissors, and cut the bandages loose. There was a sound that indicated a small infection at least. Sonny tried to stay calm, but when Stevens pulled the bandage off, he let out a small sound of pain. Stevens looked over at the guard, whom was now slightly green in the face. This humanoid would not last, that much was certain. A quick look at Sonny told him Sonny saw the same. If need be, they would provoke vomit in this guard. But Sonny needed be updated.

Stevens started his procedure. Within minutes, the guard ran to the bathroom connected to the hospital room. Sonny grabbed his hand.

" Tend to the guard, he has the key to my handcuffs. See if you can sneak it from him" Sonny whispered in Ancient Shiloh. Stevens nodded.

He approached the guard.

"Are you ok Sir?" he asked calmly.

The sounds of vomit spoke for themselves.

"I got some anti vomit medication here. It should enable you to keep an eye on me, and do your job, while I treat the prisoner" he said.

The guard tried to push himself up, but slipped and hit his head. Stevens actually did feel compassion this time, as he now bled from his head. He helped the guard back into the room, and sat him down. As he did, The guard was too hazy to notice Stevens slipped the said key from his uniform pocket. Sonny did notice. As soon as Stevens had given the guard the pill, wich would allow for at least 15 minutes that he was out, Stevens turned to Sonny.

"Corso and the others are nearby, in the vents" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"That figures, can you stitch up this wound real quick?" he asked.

Before Stevens could answer, the decoration in front of the air vent was kicked out, and Corso, Bennett and Artie joined. Corso only needed a second to get an overview.

"Lets get you out of these handcuffs Sonny, I am starting to have an allergic reaction to it" he joked.

Bennett made Artie do the hacking work to make sure no one could see them. Then, he found a small vial in the medkit the pirates brought.

"This mix will leave him out of it, until we are ready to leave. What is the plan Corso?" he asked.

Corso looked at him.

"Keep an eye on the door. I will make sure Sonny is taken care of and ready. We will have to stage things Sonny. This messed my plan up, so how are you for improvisation?" he asked.

Sonny grinned.

"That way, Duke Maddox will not be able to blame any hospital staff for my escape. His guard was ambushed, his nursing assistant was held at gun point. No one can be blamed for my escape..but the pirates. And that, is something he should foresee" Sonny mused.

Corso nodded as he started his stitching. Sonny bit his teeth together from the small stings. Corso tied up the stitches as good as he could. The experience he had was, the tighter the stitches, the faster the wound healed. As soon as he was done, Corso put on a clean bandage, before he reached into the backpack he had brought, and took out a fresh t shirt.

"Need some help Sonny? The stitches are still fresh, you may need some help to get dressed the next days." he said.

Sonny did the best he could, but in fear of opening the stitches, he allowed Corso to help him get dressed. As soon as Sonny set feet on the floor, it was evident, they needed to rethink their plan. Sonny could barely walk without feeling dizzy. That was when Stevens had a plan.

"Use the Trolley to hide him. One of you, act as a lunatic, or drugged up person, take me hostage, and the others use the cloaker the pirates team use, to stay invisible. This is our best bet to get out. And Sonny really needs to rest. I am not sure what they gave him, but find out aboard Corso. Do a tox screen, and make sure he gets to rest. I will join you later. But we need to get Sonny out. Tomorrow will be too late. They are scheduled to move him then" he reported.

Corso nodded, and quickly emptied the trolley, before he helped Sonny hide inside it. Bennett and Artie was given a cloaker each. Before they put the plan in motion, Bennett securely tied up and gagged the humanoid guard. Then, the pirates made ready for their escape...

* * *

Duke Maddox did one final inspection on the new facility. Tomorrow, Sonny would be placed in here. Finally in a safe enviroment. Here, they could start unravelling what Bleylock had done in the past, what the pirates had done to this scientist. The best he ever had. Whatever had made him run, from Bleylock, Technoid, all that he knew. And better yet, what kind of lies had he been fed, to make him turn on them. Duke Maddox did not want the pirate chief hurt. But he wanted to make sure Sonny Blackbones had been told the truth. And if possible, convince him to come back. As skilled as he was, they needed him on the science team. It had taken years, and countless failed attempts, but now, they finally had him. Injured, but he would be fine. They just needed to tend to him. If need be, a small collar around his neck, until he realised they only wanted to help him. The cell area had been arranged to be comfortable. A luxury standard Technoid apartment. A genius like Sonny deserved a comfortable prison. Off course, he would also bring him to the matches, to see his team, and Technoids. That way, the pirates would know Sonny was fine, that he was there of his own choosing. And since they could not break in, the marks in the ducts had shown, their blast power was not strong enough, Sonny would finally make peace with his imprisonment. It would be a glorious day, when finally things was restored to order...

* * *

Stevens faked being afraid as Corso held his gun to his head, and acted all crazed up. If Corso ever wanted a second career, he should take up on acting.

No one dared make an attempt to stop him. The trip was made without hinderance, and Corso demanded painmeds and stronger forms of drugs be made ready, so the nursing assistant would not get injured. The request was followed up on, and a get away car. Bennett and Artie were still cloaked, as they helped Sonny out.

"That is Sonny Blackbones. Stop him! He is getting away!" yelled a bystander.

Corso did not think. He pulled Stevens with them into the get away car, and had Bennett hit the gas.

As soon as they were moving, Corso turned to Sonny. He seemed a bit pale.

"Sonny, are you feeling ok?" he asked.

Sonny looked at him. A faint smile formed on his face.

"Im fine Corso. Just feeling a bit weak, and more so, relieved that Technoid hospitality is over" he said.

Corso nodded.

"Lets get you back to the ship. Your son waits for you at Akillian" he said.

Sonny smiled softly as he leaned back in the seats. Corso smiled as he saw his friend fall asleep. He fastened the seatbelt around him.

"To The Black Manta Bennett. And then, head for Akillian. Sonny will be resting through the trip."...

* * *

Duke Maddox was furious as he heard what had happened. Once again, Sonny seemed to have sensed what was going on. And somehow, his men had come for him, undetected. Either, Sonny had more luck than anyone else he knew, or he had insiders in the hospital. Duke Maddox ordered all security tapes gone through to see what had happened. And it came as no surprise, the videos from his room,all things relevant to the escape, had been erased. The pirates had professional hackers on their team. Someone really clever had done this job.

Despite his frustration, he had to prepare for Callie Mystics arrival. She would spread the news into the galaxy, to let them know, Sonny Blackbones was again at large. And with his injury, sure to stay in hiding for the time being while he recovered. Maybe getting an eye on his son could lead to answers. Duke Maddox made a call. He would use D'Jok to hunt down Sonny. That was Sonnys one and only weakspot...

* * *

On board The Black Manta, Corso smiled as he watched Sonny sleep soundly in his bed. The bandages had not bled through this time, and a quick check revealed that what Sonny really needed, was rest. Now that he was on board, peace was restored. Corso could drop back into his role as the ships second in command. As he rose, he pulled the blankets better around Sonny, making sure he was ok, before he headed back to the ships command center. As Corso sank down into the seat, he smiled. He then found his communicator and sent a message to D'Jok.

"On our way back, Sonny is safe and sound asleep as we speak. We will be there early in the morning. Come see him on board. He will appreciate that"...

* * *

Magnus roared as he saw the news. Technoid was incompetent. Here, he set up the one trap for them, that Sonny could not escape, he served him to them on a silver platter, and he still managed to get free. For Magnus, this meant trouble. By the look of things, Sonny had caught on to his plan, and he would not allow for that to happen. And when Sonny got into things, it could get dangerous for him. Now, he risked a complete role reversal. Good thing, Sonny did not have Corso by his side anymore. Although, he was not yet sure he could trust Sonnys former right hand man, he had still stolen Sonnys emotional support. He knew well how close the two were back in the days, and it seemed when Sonny took his place, Corso had become his right hand as the most logical choice.

Magnus stopped his trail of thoughts, as Callie showed the video from the lobby of the hospital. A terrified nursing assistant...wait a minute..it looked like..Magnus looked closer. And then, he realised why he did not trust Corso. Behind the nursing assistant, that looked suspiciously much like Stevens, the footballer, stood none other than... CORSO!...

* * *

_Yes, Magnus now realised he has a clone on board. And with the latest development, be sure that Sonny and his men will retaliate, and fast. But yes, first, Sonny needs to heal some from his injury. Ad where is a better place than under the care of Dame Simbai, and also, as a bonus, spend time with his son. And yes, there will be a show down between the ex pirate leader and the current leader. Who will be the victorer. And will the galactik kids be ok, and Mei and Micro Ice too. All this is soon to be revealed_


	18. Chapter 18

"And that concludes the scores so far. The sandmen of Menor versus The Snow Kids ended in a draw, and the return match was a crushing defeat for the sandmen, who lost 3 to 0. The Shadows faced Technoid, former Team Paradisia and was eliminated, as these girls dont need flux to play hard. It seems whomever the coach for Technoid is, they are hard at work" Barry Randt said, sounding very admiring of the girls.

"The Electras faced of against The Pirates, wich with their flux, The seed of Shiloh, a mythical flux, is a force to be reckoned with. Sonny Blackbones brave men, crushed the poor Electras 2 to 1 in the first match and 3 to 0 in the away match. There was hopes to see a glimmer of the recently escaped leader, Sonny Blackbones himself, but it seems, he has gone into hiding, to recover, as it was reported that he was injured during capture. A daring rescue was launched while he was still in hospital, and since then, no one has heard anything from the pirate chief. It is suspected that he has gone into hiding while the injury heals. And I am sure he is happy to learn that The pirates and The Snow Kid is advancing to the final sixteen, along with Technoid whom made it in the last minute defeating the sandmen, whom are now officially out of the competition" said Noork

"Callie, we all wonder about the pirate chief, and you managed to track down Stevens, The Pirates star striker. Does he have something to tell you about that?" Barry asked.

"Yes Barry. I am here in the locker room with Stevens. In this area, The pirates have immunity and can not be arrested. Stevens allowed me in, against me promising not to film anyone that did not give permission or not wear protective gear on their face" Callie said.

She then turned to The pirates striker.

"Tell us Stevens, many seem to be quite worried about Sonny. Is there any updates that you can share on his current condition?" Callie asked.

Stevens nodded.

"Callie, I was asked on behalf of Sonny in person, to extend his sincere gratitude for all the get well wishes we have received. The pirates do monitor most message boards, and we are aware of the concern you have because of the injuries that has been shown on holo tv. As of now, Sonny is doing fine. The wound is healing, and he has gone to a safe place to recover. At this time, Sonny is around close and dear friends, receiving all the needed care and treatment. We expect him to make a full recovery, and should it be needed, he will also make an appearance on screen to thank you all. But rest assured, Sonny is safe and he is doing fine. He is also pleased with how this cup is progressing. We aim to go far this time, and if possible, all the way to the top" Stevens said, and received massive applause from his team mates wich was getting ready to vacate the locker room.

"Do you really think it is possible Stevens? It would be a position The pirates has never been in before. It is said that being in the finals is a tough position to be in. Are you and your men ready for such a big undertaking?" Callie asked.

Stevens nodded.

"There is a first time for everything, and if it is possible, The Pirates will do what it takes to go all the way" he said.

"It will certainly be exciting to see. All I can say dear Holo viewers, is may the best team win"...

* * *

D'Jok turned of the holo tv in the briefing room where all The Snow kids had gathered to watch the news. Corso had informed them of the on coming interview with Stevens. Maybe it was a tactic on The Pirates side, to make it easier to win, but Stevens had seemed mighty confident. The Snow kids knew that The Black Manta was parked on their pitch, but in stealth mode. The Pirates would come and go, helping out with all the fabrication of the new cure of the virus Magnus Blade had created. But Sonny was rarely seen outside his ship at this time. D'Jok had gone to see him, and quickly realised why. Sonny would lean heavily on Corso when he needed to go anywhere outside his cabin. And Corso was worse than a blood hound. Unless Sonny could make a run for it and get himself to safety, Corso would not let him exit the ship. So, in between matches, D'Jok spent as much time with his father as he could. Mei had come with a few times, but she spent most her time with Tia, and let D'Jok have some precious alone time with his father. She could tell Sonny appreciated that. When D'Jok came over, father and son would go through the things they had brought from the old apartment in the old part of Akillian. For Sonny, it was a sometimes hard walk down memory lane. You did not have to be a rocket scientist to tell that he still had a great deal of guilt to process in regards to his late wife and her death. It had made D'Jok think of something. But he needed to run it by Corso. Finally, D'Jok managed to find Corso alone, without being glued to Sonny.

"Corso, could I talk to you about something?" he managed to say.

Corso turned towards him from the computer he was looking at.

"We can talk D'Jok, but I will not agree to something that involves going behind Sonnys back. He may be injured, but he is still the boss around here. Just because I take on his duties right now, that does not mean I am in command." he reminded D'Jok.

"Actually, it is about Dad. I think..I may know a way to help him deal with some of his issues" D'Jok said.

Corso looked him over, slightly more suspicious."I'll hear you out, but it sounds serious, you would not ask me now if it was not something that qwould otherwise put Sonny, or all of us for that matter, at risk?" Corso asked.

D'Jok nodded. Corso sighed. When it came to Sonny, he would do anything for him,to make sure he was well, not just physically, but mentally as well. And whatever D'Jok had planned, seemed to have an element of that to it. If it could help, Corso was willing to listen at least.

"Lets head to the lounge, then you can tell me what you are thinking D'Jok"...

* * *

Magnus was fuming. He had been played. How had Sonny and his men managed to pull of this switch? To him, it was evident that the clone served some kind of purpose to them. Was there any chance they could turn it around, and use it to spy on them? Not very likely. Sonny was known to be careful. If he had used the clone to spy on him, he would make sure it could not be turned against himself. If Sonny knew his back up plan, he was sure to foil it, and make sure he could not take the power he craved. But Magnus had put in a fail safe. Now that Harris was gone, he could not jeopardize his plan either. Sonny was the only obstacle. But Sonny was injured after the capture. The reports said two blasts to the chest. Another person would not survive this, but Sonny was not like any other person. He was strong, and also, a genius in his own right. Sonny would have made several plans for this situation, trying to battle him. But there was a way to stop Sonny. His son. Magnus remembered the young red headed Snow kid he convinced to be the captain of his own team. He should have seen it. D'Jok looked like and acted a lot like his father. Maybe the hypnosis he had used, could be used to get him to do his bidding and keep his father at bay? Magnus headed to his office, and then, he started to plan out the attack...

* * *

The final round was over, and The pirates and The snow Kids was all relaxing in the snow kids briefing room. They now knew who the three teams from their group was. Technoid, The Pirates and The Snow Kids. Rocket looked at all of them. To motivate them, especially The Snow Kids, whom had won the cup three times, was a huge undertaking. The Final sixteen for the fourth time meant coming face to face with The Lightnings, The Xenons, and other great teams. Some of whom they had not faced before. A sound made all the pirates break into a smile. In the doorway stood Corso, and beside him, Sonny. The pirates cheered when they saw their leader. Sonny still leaned some on Corsos shoulder, but he looked better than he had when rescued.

"Congratulations Pirates, Snow Kids. You are in the final sixteen. Again. It is a huge undertaking to get to this point, so be proud of yourselves for having achieved that. But now, there is only elimination matches. You loose, you are out. I will especially address the Pirates here. It is all in your hands now. I know you want to go all the way in this cup, and since we have a flux, our chances are better than ever. With the agreements we now have, and the level of mastery of our flux, we will use the time on the pitch to develop the seed as much as we can. A holo trainer will be installed in The Black Manta, to keep up training sessions there in the off season. While I have been sick, I spent time reading up on the story of said flux. This will now be demanded that each member of the pirates team do, Corso will hand you your information folder. To understand how your flux works is the key to get the most out of it. Till the final sixteen starts on Genesis, I will have you all train hard" Sonny promised.

Stevens raised his hand.

"What about you Sonny? Do you also intend to part take on the pitch? Your flux is one of our strongest. And no one will recognize you in a pirates uniform" he said.

Sonny smiled at his striker.

"For now, I will take the role as a substitute. Clamp and I still have more work to do, to make sure that this metal alloy of Technoids is not going to be used to create a dangerous situation for other football teams. Besides, The pirates is a great team, even without me on the pitch. I am sure you can handle it without my presence" Sonny said.

He then turned to leave, but the injury still slowed him only thing that made him leave the safety of his ship, was the immunity agreement they had. Here, he could still move around safely. And at this time, slowly.

Corso came around a corner and saw him.

"Here, let me help you back to the ship. You are not healed yet, it will take some time. Meanwhile, we continue our work to try to solve this issue with Magnus.I may have something that can speed up things, but it requires rest. If you happen to know what that is?" he joked.

Sonny smiled as he carefully placed his arm around Corsos neck where they headed back to the ship.

"We will head for Genesis and the cup matches there. I am counting on the pirates and The snow kids to go as high as possible. We need to, to find out who Magnus soldiers are. I got a feeling Magnus has a team that is doing his dirty work. He took over where Harris lost. But wich team?" he wondered.

Corso agreed.

"Not a team we are aware of at present time, that is for sure. We know it is not The lightnings, we need to get a better look at the other teams. Corso, send out scouts before the matches, to all new teams we dont know."Sonny ordered.

Corso nodded.

"I will take care of it Sonny. Any teams you want particular eyes on?" he asked.

Sonny thought it over.

"Three unknown teams. The Pulsars, The Gyros and The Xenons. The Xenons has a shady past, and could be prone to take up on a deal to win like that, but I think we are dealing with someone unfamiliar to us at this point" Sonny thought.

Corso nodded.

"That leaves only three teams, The Sandmen of Menor, The Pulsars, and The Gyros. All unknown teams that showed up during Magnus cup on Paradisia. You think we need to look at them first?" he asked.

Sonny nodded.

"Yes, These teams are from planets close to Paradisia. We have never heard of them before that cup. And it makes me wonder as to wheter Magnus really was as alone on matters as we seem to think, or if he had more than Harris working with him" he said.

Corso nodded.

"I will put Bennett and Artie on it. We will find out Sonny, I promise. But now, I want you to rest up. Something tells me, you will need all of your strenght in all of this"...

* * *

Final Sixteen.. They were here once again. Rocket looked at the pitch, Tia next to him. Three times, they had managed the impossible. And this time, would be their fourth attempt. And for some reason, the cup did not feel so important this time as before. They had already done it, three times. It was time for someone else to take over. But whom would be a worthy winner of the cup? As a three time winner, he and his team knew, it was not just about the cup, it was about the flux, the flux of the champions would preserve the peace in the galaxy. It was more important than just a cup. That was one of the things he had gotten during the times Clamp and Sonny had talked with them all about it. The balance of the fluxes, the breath preserved that in a good way. But not all teams had that same outlook, would they do it for one more round, or would someone worthy take over? He wondered...

D'Jok had his own grievances. With all that had happened, he was not even sure how the galaxy would see him anymore. Was he doomed to become the footballer whose entire time was abducted by a mad man, because of his past mistakes,and if so, then what? Continue to play, or was he destined to walk the same path as his father, become a pirate? A wanted man, always on the run? Deep within, D'Jok knew, what was to become his future, was for him to decide. He was possibly faced with lack of trust from the parents of the galactik kids. All of them had been brought to Akillian to receive treatment. This had been done by Dame Simbai and Clamp. Sonny had chosen to stay in hiding for this, not wanting to draw any attention to himself or the pirates. Despite his condition, Sonny had put in hours in the lab with Clamp to finish a remedy that would allow for the recovery of the infected players. Aarch and Noorata, Along with Keira, had stayed at the Academy to see to it that they rested properly, while Sonny and the pirates took off for Genesis along with the snow kids and Technical staff. Now, D'Jok had to focus, as they approached the gigantic spinning star. The pirates had travelled with them, but with their status, they saw the ships start to disappear through the porthole.

"Wow, look at that, it is the stealth mode enabled right before our very eyes" Thran exclaimed, facinated.

He had been on board The Black Manta and knew there would be radio silence for now. Micro Ice also looked at them.

"See you soon Artie, and be careful ok. That goes for Sonny, Bennett and Corso too" he said.

Mei and D'Jok looked at each other.

"Whatever you are planning, good luck Dad, and be careful" D'Jok said.

As they landed and exited the shuttle, they were met by the photographers. D'Jok kept an eye on Callie Mystic, she seemed to have targeted him, and then there was...

* * *

"Hush Sharky..what else could go wrong?" D'Jok muttered as he put on his sun glasses.

The reporters stormed towards them. D'Jok heard them call out for him left and right.

"Give him some space. We will speak at the press conference, not before" he heard Mei say before they were transported into a limousine.

"That was a close one, thanks Mei" he said.

"That is what girlfriends are for" she smiled back.

"I wonder who we will face first. I recall there was a few unknown teams we never faced before" Sinedd said.

"Well, That question I can answer. The snow kids will face off against The Gyros in two days, we got plenty to do" said Clamp, looking up from his data pad.

D'Jok nodded, he expected fierce competition, and the usual hysteria.

"I think.. There will be harder matches too" he said.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"Yes, the first match you would want to catch. It is The pirates against The Xenons" she said.

The snow kids gasped collectively.

"I hope they protect their anckles, the Xenons dont play fair, this is going to be rough on them" said Micro Ice.

"I wouldnt worry too much Micro Ice, The pirates are pros, they know what they are up against. It will be an exciting match to watch" Tia said.

Rocket agreed with Micro Ice, he remembered his one on one with ball was no rules sure, but the tacklings from the reptilian had been brutal. He hoped the pirates knew what they were up for. This was a match they would all watch together.

He on the other hand needed to know more about their oponent.

"Are we the first match against The Gyros in the final sixteen?" he finally asked.

At this moment, their driver smirked.

"Clamp, why dont you take the video file in the glove compartment?" said a familiar voice.

D'Jok looked up.

"Artie?" Micro Ice said.

"The one and only. This is an information video on The Gyros. Corso and Sonny put it together based on what we know. Watch it as a team and act as a team when you face them, was the message I was told to give. And here we are at your hotel. Good luck and Go Snow Go" he cheered.

"Your team is up first, in tomorrows match. That is sure to be explosive" said Rocket.

"We will be fine, the pirates are used to rough housing. We will play our hearts out" said Artie, filled with confidence.

That sparked a good mood with the snow kids. As They made ready to exit the taxi, they all turned towards Artie.

"Tell your team, The snow kids support the Pirates 100%. GO PIRATES GO!" the snow kids cheered in unison as they left the taxi.

Artie returned to The Black Manta to report to Sonny...

* * *

_Sorry for the delay, there has been a lot going on. Going to use this corona virus thing to get caught up here and there. Still got plenty of ideas, but sometimes a heavy start. Sorry for lack of action, I promise to make up for that. I hope this will be to your enjoyment._


	19. Chapter 19

The snow kids was hard at work with training. The video that the pirates had given them, allowed them some measure of preparation before they met a team they knew little about. The Gyros was an unknown team to many of the players in the cup. Last time, they had not really advanced far, so little was known. How the pirates got about their information, or even located them to obtain information was unknown, but here they were. Artie had made sure to sneak off close to unseen after he dropped them off at the hotel. In a guarded location, The pirates was training hard for this competition. With them having a till now unknown flux, had given them a real advantage, it looked like it would be the Wambas or the Shadows that would be underdogs this time. And for some reason it did not bother Sinedd. He had his time with The Shadows, he had developed as a player, but returning to The Snow Kids had been a humbling experience for him. He knew Aarch was a legend in his own right, with his creative methods for coaching, a legacy now passed on to Rocket, since the incident with him and Aduim had become known the last cup. Aduim was still associated with the league, but she was also pregnant and about to give birth to a little baby soon. With all that had happened over three consecutive cups, Sinedd knew many of The Snow Kids did not feel they had anything more to prove. Their star on the galactic sky was eternal. Three time champions, with huge changes each time. Rocket was doing his best to motivate them all, but when you reached that state that you really did not have the same appetite for victory as before. And this was a challenge Rocket faced now. To motivate his team to play all out against an unknown team. In truth, there was not many teams The Snow Kids had not faced. But The Gyros, The Sandmen of Menor and finally,The pulsars, was unknown elements. The video allowed Rocket to study the flux of The Gyros. It looked strong, and like a wall of sorts. This was a challenge for The Snow Kids to find out how to break through.

"You are going to be in trouble with this flux. It is very dense. You may need some new stategies to use the breath this time. Or they may actually send you out of the final sixteen as one of the first teams" said Clamp as he studied the flux.

"I think I got a bigger problem on my hands. Since the abduction, Micro Ice and Mei have been sidelined for some time, and we dont know if all this work you and Sonny did will work as intended. Then, there is D'Jok and his situation. He has not said much, but he looks a bit changed, like he has lost his edge somehow. I dont know if that is a good thing or not. Tia has one tough job as captain of this team" Rocket said as he studied the team in the holo trainer. Clamp had made holograms of The Gyros for them to play. The team seemed to struggle to break the wall, until Micro Ice had one of his creative moments. That seemed to be key to punch a hole in their defence. As soon as the training was over, Rocket looked at all of them.

"This is awesome. Good job Micro Ice. You solved the puzzle, we are in much better shape to defeat The Gyros now" Rocket said.

"Dont forget, tonight is The pirates facing The Xenons. That is sure to be worth while watching" said D'Jok.

Mark nodded, but he was still feeling out of place. The thought of Nina Eight had not left him. And soon, he risked facing her on the pitch, playing for Technoid. But first, they had to defeat The Gyros. Mark decided to keep silent. For now, The Snow Kids needed be focused. They would not win this by slacking off. Rocket looked at them all, sweaty and short on breath. They had given it all they had for this session, now it was time to hit the shower and get some rest.

It made him sad, he so wanted to be out there, but his resonance did not allow him to play an entire match the way things was right now. He hoped Clamp and Sonny would be able to counter it, as soon as Sonny was well enough to make an escape from Technoid. The images from the capture had made him worry for the pirate chief, but as he had seen, Sonny had an iron clad wall of protection around him by his men, as soon as he recovered, Rocket knew he and Clamp would meet and see if they could work things out.

But he could not stop himself from missing being part of the team, in the action.

"Great work out everyone. Make sure you rest properly, we meet again tomorrow morning. And tonight, we will be watching the pirates take on the Xenons. That is a great way to study two very likely teams we will meet." he said.

The team smiled and headed to the shower. Rocket looked at Clamp.

"Clamp, do you think we will ever deal with the resonance I have? I know, after Paradisia, there is a chance we all have it in varying degrees.I just feel so helpless, I just wish there was something I could do to change it" he said. Clamp nodded. He understood Rockets frustration with the situation.

"I believe it can be reversed Rocket, but not to what point. Sonny is going to look into that part. In these kinds of matters, he is the one with the knowledge. I was more a mechanical scientist during my days with Technoid, Sonnys education is more extensive, he is educated in biochemistry and a variety of other things, simply because he has this mind that needs constant refill to work best. Technoid gave him all those tools while he worked there, too bad they were rotten even then, and he found out. When he did, he decided to stop them, with the result that he became a refuge, a fugitive. Technoid invested a lot of time and money on his education. It is no wonder they would want him back. But unless they all of a sudden turn close to squeeky clean in all they do, I dont think there is much chance Sonny would even consider working for them, with them perhaps, if it is needed to solve the situation, but he wont go back to them. That is what pisses them off, and makes them go on a hunt for him." Clamp explained.

Rocket nodded with a sigh.

"I guess, I will take whatever time I can get on the pitch then" Rocket said.

He could not help but feel disappointed.

Dame Simbai placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We will fix this Rocket, but we need time" she said.

Rocket nodded as he left the training room. Dame Simbai looked at Clamp.

"Do you think you can reverse the effect of resonance Clamp? Rocket is not the only one suffering. There are other players as well. If this resonance gets worse in the teams, many of the great galactik stars will have to retire from football prematurely. Galactik football as we know it, may disappear forever, until younger teams can replace them" she said.

Clamp rubbed his chin. This was an intriguing thought. If Magnus was one of those that did not like football, and only saw flux as a tool to make his own world better, and money did the talking, maybe that was the motive for both he and Harris. Clamp did not believe Magnus as innocent as he had tried to portray himself in all this, and neither did Sonny. It was just a matter of time before they would be on the trail of what he was up to. But as far as reversing the resonance went, he had to wait on whatever Sonny would find.

"I honestly dont know Dame Simbai, this is Sonnys area of expertise. But I would not be surprised if this thought has crossed his mind too" he said.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"If so, Sonnys knowledge alone becomes a danger to this Magnus. There are still evil forces at play in the galaxy. And it seems someone wants to stop the Galactik football, and the use of the fluxes for good, using the resonance. If Sonny is the only one with the knowledge to reverse it..." she said.

Clamp nodded.

"Then, not only galactik football as we know it is in danger, whatever this plan is, it may change galactik football for good, and the ones in the risk zone are innocent kids. I need to speak to Sonny about it" he said.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"Very Well, I will get the flux society involved as soon as we know more then"...

* * *

How could this thing be countered? Sonny was looking over all the research material that he had. Samples from each infected player they had been able to reach, and his men was still looking up more. This plan Magnus had, it was more devious than he had given him credit for. And so many were in danger of having their future as footballers, having this magical energy leave the galaxy for good, unless he could find a way to reverse it. But how? Sonny had even printed out old lectures from his one time mentor, Professor Monteague, who was the one that made him take an interest in studying flux. The Flux society was a good regulator, but without real power to do anything. The fluxes had once been used to do good in the galaxy, before the powerhungry sharks had created division between the planets, intending to use the fluxes as a weapon of war, to seize power and control. He had not been in the wars, but being a pirate, their leader, he knew the effects the war had. Corso was a perfect example of that. And Corso had told him of other pirates, some vanished into history, no sign of what happened, or where their lives ended, ever found. He had not given up, but the stories where conclusion was reached was few and far between. If he could not fix the resonance, a bi product of Bleylocks insanity, there was no other way to describe it, there would be a heavy price to pay, for all the stars of galactik football. Technoid had provided him the tools, instead of using it to aide their goals, he would turn that knowledge to something good for the galaxy. Especially for the planet where he once caused a disaster, covering it in snow and ice. Many a time he had found himself wondering, could he reverse that effect, bring back what he had robbed them off? The question lingered in the back of his mind. The eternal what ifs. But the most important problem was the resonance. It was a threat to the players of all teams, the galactik football federation and also, with what he had discovered, to the next generation of footballers. The galactik kids was only the first team, if this was a virus, it could effect other teams as well, mixed or pure flux. This was why he had learned the knowledge he had. To prevent the demise of the fluxes, to be the last line of defence. Sonny did not see himself as a religious man, but this time, he sent a prayer to a higher power, to aide him to see how this could be fixed. He could hear a door open behind him, and someone entered the lab in the back of Black Manta.

"The match is about to start Sonny, you told me to notify you. I hope our boys are ready to take on The Xenons. These monsters is not someone I would like to be against" said Corso.

Sonny nodded. He was getting nowhere at the moment,he might as well take a break, and cheer his team on. Sonny put down work and locked up the lab as he went with Corso to watch the match...

* * *

"The pirates are on fire tonight, one attempt after the other. The Xenons are having difficulties pinpointing this team as they use their flux in a team play effort to try to win. Ah, there is Stevens, he has the ball, and he is going one on one with Luur. He is going for the goal, dribbling with Luur. Oh, he shoots and...GOAL PIRATES!" yelled an excited Callie.

The roar from within The Black Manta was equally high. Corso grinned as he saw Sonny raise his hands to cover his ears some.

"Too loud for you? Sorry, the boys dont come with a volume button" Corso said with a smirk.

"Im ok, just had a silent enviroment around me for a few hours too long" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"Are you making any head way on the resonance? I remember you said to look at it, as soon as you had dealt with the galactik kids, and Mei and Micro Ices issues" Corso wondered.

Sonny nodded.

"It seems this is possibly a bit more complex than I anticipated. And as a result,I think I may be catching on to Magnus real plan Corso. It is the same old story that Bleylock pulled, That Harris pulled. To put it in short. He wants the fluxes gone, so whatever he has created is the only source of power. It would allow him to rule supreme, and you know well by now, what kind of weapon a flux can be. The Flux society regulate it, they dont control it. If Magnus could use the galactik resonance for such purpose, there is litterally no one that can stop him" Sonny said.

Corso looked at him in utter shock.

"Do we know how advanced it is in the players yet? We know that the players that played Netherball has a stronger resonance than the players affected by playing in the paradisian cup. That list includes all the major galactik football stars Sonny, every single one of them, plus the more aggressive players from the teams. It has to be reduced. Somehow, but I have no idea as to how. If this is an attempt to control who reaches the final Sonny, it can only be the team that he has decided to use as his accomplices, and then...In Shilohs name.." Corso looked down right horrified as he realised the full extent of the truth.

Sonny could only nodd.

"Yes Corso, unless he has access to Technoids team, and they did not secure their access frequenzy right, It is going to be a final like we never saw before. It will be an unknown team, most likely one of the unknown ones from The paradisian cup" he said.

Corso thought it over.

"Besides Team Paradisia, wich is now Technoid, The sandmen of Menor is already out. That leaves only two unknown. The Gyros, and The Pulsars. We still have a copy of the training video we gave The Snow Kids right?" he asked.

Sonny nodded.

"The Snow Kids will unfortunately have to help us with this. I dont like it, but we need someone to draw their attention away from us while we work this. The Snow Kids already have Rocket severely weakened by his resonance. I have not seen it in D'Jok or the other players yet, but the chance is, it will, and surely, sooner rather than later. Micro Ice and Mei are also in a risk zone when it comes to that. D'Jok is still appearing strong but there is a possibility of a backlash from the hypnosis he was put under. Anything happens to my son, Magnus will regret the day he met him. But in all cases, It seems evident that Magnus will make a move. And it may be close to the final. I am not sure, but I got a feeling this may not be a final where the reigning Champions are playing. It will be two unknown teams. And one of those teams, will be The pirates"...

* * *

Luur was panting. This was an odd feeling. He was stronger than most his team mates, but this feeling.. It felt familiar somehow. But how could that even be? He could take on an entire team by himself, but today, he felt exhausted from nothing. And The Pirates did not seem effected by this at all. Luur had to use his team players more than he normally would. He was a star, one of the greatest Galactik football stars ever, and he was being played by a team that used to have no flux at all. But mysteriously, now they did, and now they played harder than ever, with a unique team play. Luur knew he would have to change strategy, if not before, then at half time. The pirates was making a fool out of him and his team, the great Xenons. This was too much for his reptilian pride. Luur ordered a full on attack on the pirates goal...

"Luur seems to be really angry at the pirates playing so well and with their flux, he is going for the goal, and he looks angry" sounded Callies voice.

"Cover Hawkins and help him stop this goal. Team unity is more important than ever" Sonny told his players through his communicator.

They watched as the pirates formed a pyramid block in front of the prepared for a hard hit as the entire team activated their flux. The same thought had come to the Xenons, whom activated their flux, the heat.

"This really is incredible, a true clash of titans. The Xenons is dead set on getting this goal, and the pirates equally set on defending their goal against them. This is surely not the pirates we are used to seeing" commented Barry Randt, whom could not hide his excitement.

"Dont let the goal in. Stop the attack, we only got seconds left of the first half" Sonny commanded from the safety of his ship.

"And there goes the signal for the first half. The pirates lead by one to nill. The next half is sure to be explosive" said Callie.

Sonny smiled as he laid down his headset.

"Corso, tell Artie and Bennett, get an eye on Luur. The first half really took a lot out of him. It seems the resonance is progressing faster than anticipated for the galactik stars. Luur played Netherball, so it is no surprise there, but it seems, even the other Xenon players are affected. We have to act, even if it means breaking all security rules" Sonny ordered.

Corso nodded, and went to do as told.

Sonny realised things was about to take an ugly turn, and at the very first match of the final sixteen. He needed to talk to Clamp, right now.

Sonny stepped into his own cabin and made the call...

* * *

The Snow Kids was blown away at this first half.

"Luur has lost his edge. I always saw him as a fearsome beast, but this..this version of him is tame" said Micro Ice.

D'Jok agreed.

"Luur is usually a lot stronger. He seems weakened" he commented.

Sinedd nodded.

"I wonder if this is a sideeffect to Netherball. I always thought it was a Technoid operated thing, but it is possible someone else was behind it, someone I never saw" he said.

Clamp entered the room along with Dame Simbai, and they looked grave serious.

"Snow Kids, we just came off a call from Sonny. He will come by later. It is urgent. Sonny has talked to The Lightnings already,and Aduim at the League. The players of all teams seem to have been effected by the same thing as Rocket. It is called resonance. And this will weaken you all. For those that played Nether ball, this whole thing started there, the more aggressive you play, the more effected you will be, and the longer you played, the worse the resonance" Clamp said as he looked at Rocket.

"You were in the sphere for a long time Rocket, each time ten minutes,and your playing style was very aggressive. So was yours Sinedd, and also Tia. Sonny requested all three of you to be tested and get the level of resonance read imidiately. So will happen for you all. Mei, Micro Ice, it is possible that the abduction has left you two with some kind of resonance as well, so he asked Dame Simbai and also Brim Balarius to help with this. D'Jok, I dont think I need to tell you that your contact with Magnus Blade put you on a watch list too. Sonny has called in enforcement from outside the pirates to cover all bases. He is considering involving Technoid as this is a matter that is too big for the pirates alone." Clamp sighed.

"For Sonny to go to these extremes, it speaks volumes about the severity of the situation we are facing. Tia,we may need your parents help here too" Clamp said.

Tia nodded.

"I will contact them. This is a very serious situation, isnt it?" she asked silently.

Dame Simbai looked at all of them.

"We wont lie to you. This is already becoming an extreme situation. One that means all normal rules are off. Brim Balarius will inform you on the meaning later. But the truth is, if Sonny is right, the galaxy is under the biggest threat it has ever faced. Sonny himself will be working side by side with Technoids best scientist teams to solve the resonance riddle " she said.

That Made a shell shocked D'Jok look at them.

"This isnt safe for Dad. Technoid sees him, they are sure to arrest him, and who knows what will happen then" he shouted.

"There is no other choice D'Jok" sounded a voice behind him.

Sonny entered the room next to Corso.

"We have stumbled upon what could be Magnus plan all along. I thought he had changed, well, he has, for the worse. He was all about money when he was exiled. Now, he is all about power. Galactik power. If Magnus has it his way, the galactik football as we know it, the fluxes as we know it, will all be a distant memory. Magnus will succeed where Bleylock and Harris failed. He will seize galactik power, and rule supreme, and he will have all of us at his mercy, because he created a galaxy wide resonance that destroyed the fluxes as we know it"...

* * *

_Magnus is a bad apple, it is not like we have not seen that before. The guy double crossed his own once, off course he would do it again, out of greed,and lust for a power he does not have. So remains the questions, why is this revealed at the start of the final sixteen, why resonance as the ultimate way to destroy a universe. Because somewhere in the original story, this is subtly suggested as a possible route. I chose to explore this round. It will force enemies to form alliances, and Sonny and Clamp need all the help they can get to solve this, even if that means a deal with the devil, in this case technoid. This is not a whim. I planned this route a long time ago. I hope this makes up for a long wait. I try to put more football in, I have not gone into the second half of this match yet, and that will reveal even more about things. Time will be of the essence. Happy reading._


	20. Chapter 20

It was the half time break. The Xenons had been severely shocked in their first half, meeting a pirates team, much more their equal than ever before. Luur had sat down on a bench, trying to understand what had just happened.

The pirates had flux? He had always thought they were a non flux team. The eternal under dog, not a chance in hell, they would ever win. And yet, here they were, battling someone not an under dog team, but a fierce oponent, that also had an excellent team play. Come to think of it, Stevens had seemed more confident than he ever did in the all stars matches. Luur was also feeling his own strength weakened. It had been this way, all since he had played Rocket in nether ball. And if he thought of it, he had seen it in other teams as well, especially with Warren. It seemed to have grown progressively worse, since the paradisian cup. And now, it effected the Xenons. Luur was not sure where to turn with this, it struck him that the league might not know of this, and that he really had no good options for how to progress with this. Who had the means to help? Technoid? Luur decided to put in a request after the match, and ask for a check up by Technoids doctors.

* * *

At the snow kids lounge, the champions was baffled after the first half. Mark could hardly believe what he had just seen. And this was just the first half. The snow kids looked up as the door opened and Clamp entered along with Sonny and Corso, and they all had a serious look on their faces.

"Dad? Is something wrong?That expression on your face is making me feel worried about what is coming" D'Jok managed.

Sonny nodded slowly. He hated that he was pushed to make this move, but this was not just about the pirates, it was bigger than that, how big, he had no idea of yet. But he needed help, and asking this help came with its own set of risks.

But first of all, he needed samples of all the snow kids players, to make sure they were on the right track. To bring in Technoid at all, already had Corso on edge, and if he said the wrong things, The same they had just seen would also happen with the snow kids.

"At the moment, I am not sure D'Jok, but I got a strong feeling about matters. To make sure we are going down the right path with the next move, I will need to check you all for a phenomenon known as resonance" he said.

He could see Rocket cringe at the sound of the word.

"Sonny, does this only apply to those that played nether ball? If so, I can provide a list of whom I played, it is not all that many" he said.

Clamp shook his head.

"It is worse Rocket. From what Sonny and I have been able to figure out,this may have affected every player on the teams that participated in the paradisian cup" he said.

Dame Simbai looked severely shocked.

"But how Clamp, how could this happen and go unnoticed? Brim Simbra knew nothing, if he did, he would have told me" she protested.

Sonny nodded.

"There was a lot that went on under Magnus nose. He may have known of the pulling of the flux from the stadiums, but I doubt he knew the full effect that this would have on the players. If he did know, he has been even more reckless than he ever was as a pirate" he said.

D'Jok paled as he heard that.

"Those memories you helped me with on Shiloh.." he whispered.

Sonny nodded as he turned to D'Jok.

"A form of hypnotism. He has used it before, on people we still have not figured out to help, it may even be too late for them. Some of them have been placed in safe places to recover. I am going to deal with that, as soon as I got all the information I need. But for now, we will have to make some kind of alliance with our archenemy, to get the information needed" Sonny said as he was carefully choosing his words.

Corso was tense as he heard that.

"This had better not mean what I think it does Sonny. You are not gonna be in the same room as Technoid. They are itching to get their hands on you. You are not gonna serve yourself on a gold platter to them, for whatever reason" Corso stated.

Sonny placed a hand to Corsos shoulder to calm him.

"I wont Corso. You can relax. I am needed here. Dame Simbai, we may need the help of the flux society here, and possibly the league, to get an immunity agreement in place, temporary. And we also need to get in the players from all other teams that participated in the paradisian cup, for a check up. Clamp can handle that. I will focus on a way to neutralize the resonance. The more data I have, the closer to the solution I will get. I may have to work with former co workers from Technoid though.." he said.

Corso nodded.

"As long as it is not in the same room. I would rather send in a clone of you than let you set foot into the same room as them. And you know damn well I wont let you do anything stupid this time" he said.

Sonny could see D'Jok nodding slowly,agreeing with Corso.

"You can relax, both of you. I am not planning anything risky. At least not yet. Corso, we need a team of pirates ready to intercept the Xenons after the match. They are all showing signs of resonance, and the onset is a lot faster than I would have predicted. We need to find out what is causing the resonance to accelerate and fast. For now, we will test the snow kids first, as our own players are not affected. We did not have flux during that tournament, but make sure the team is tested just the same. I would not trust Magnus one bit as of now. He is up to something, and it could cause galactik resonance if we dont step in to do something" Sonny said.

Corso nodded, but he was none to happy about this. Working with Clamp, Dame Simbai, even the flux society and the league, fine, but Technoid? Corso looked at Sonny, whom seemed to study the xenon players closely as they came back on. He seemed to recover well from his injury from within the ducts. If Magnus intended to slow him down by that move,what was happening, was Sonny got more determined to figure out his game, and put a stop to things. They had hoped they could work together, but it was clear as day now, Magnus had chosen a path that did not match up with the pirates values. And they had to consider him an enemy, not a friend. Magnus had tried and failed, at putting the pirates in a place where they could be tracked through their flux. The pirates had made sure their flux was untraceable the moment they left the stadium, through a special form of inhibitor. But more than anything, Corso worried for the fact that Sonny had also got that flux into his body. Maybe it was a fluke, but Sonnys flux had appeared more developed from the start. It put him even more at risk than before. Sure, he was careful, and always protected, but this flux, if it was developed to a level of perfection, it could either give Sonny a much needed protection from the league and the flux society, or it would put him on the radar of other planets, not fighting for peace in the galaxy like they did. Corso had his memories of that, he had never seen it, but heard of it, in his unit. Those that mastered their flux, the flux masters, highly sought after, because they could use the flux either as a weapon, or for good. The seed of Shiloh was strong and growing stronger within the team, whom spent a lot of time to learn how to control this. For Sonny, it was different. It seemed stronger, and also, something he was seemingly in control of. Magnus could sideline Sonny, simply by using this flux to put a marker on him. So far, it was a tool for good, but that could change. Corso shook it off, and made contact with a team of pirates, to intercept the Xenons. Sonny would be safe with the snow kids for now. Corso then silently left, after signalling to Sonny that he would have to stay put till he returned. Sonny gave him a quick nodd before he took off.

* * *

The Xenons had been defeated. In the very start of the final sixteen. Luur was still trying to take it in. The shocked voice of Callie Mystic reporting, did not seem to break through to his reptilian brain. And why was he feeling so weak? On the pod back to the locker room, They tried their best to act as the stars they were towards their fans. But it felt like a heart less effort. Inside, they were all fuming, feeling ashamed that a team that had always been underdogs, had advanced, and defeated them, a team they should have been able to beat. The Xenons avoided any media contact as they went to their locker room. Once inside, and the door was closed, Luur could not hold it in any more. He slammed his fist in the locker door, leaving a large dent.

"The pirates must have cheated somehow. They are a non flux team. What kind of trickery is this?" roared one of the Xenons.

Luur was getting angry. He decided to call on Technoid right away, to have the pirates arrested for this. His pride was beyond hurt, he had been humiliated in front of his fans, and now, he wanted to know why.

But before they could get that far, a small hissing sound was heard. Gas!

What the devil was going on here? Before Luur could think more of it, he fell to the ground with his teammates, failing to see the pirates that gently moved forwards to take the needed flux samples for Sonny and Clamp to check.

* * *

Magnus had kept an eye on the players this match. The plan with the galactic resonance seemed to work perfectly. As soon as this spread further, the teams of the galaxy would be unable to do anything to defend their planets. The only ones that could, would be the wanted pirates from Sonnys gang. And with Technoid on their tail, Sonny was going to find himself in a corner too, a marker like his flux, would put him on the radar of more enemies than Technoid. It seemed the Pirates players was mastering their flux well, the only one he had no visual images of, was Sonny himself. Since his escape, He and his men had gone into hiding, it was close to impossible for his men to find any information as to their whereabouts or Sonnys health. They knew he had been shot, and injured. Knowing Corso, that was probably why Sonny was now hiding, he was still not all well, and Corso would make sure Sonny was able to defend himself properly before they would surface. For now, he kept an eye on the pirates team, it told him a lot about the development of their flux, and also, the resistance his chosen team in this cup would face. The cup was his, that much he knew, but he wanted to make the final memorable. And now that the Xenons was out of the game, he needed to have his team ready for the next one. The snow Kids was not until the third match, and he decided to gather all the information he could on the matches till then.

"Admit it Blackbones, you never saw this coming, and now, it is too late to stop it" he muttered.

"Magnus!" called a voice behind him.

He turned, looking at a young pirate reporting.

"I got hold of the files that you asked. The kids need to rest for now, but we still have the two snow kids that we took, Micro Ice and Mei" he smirked.

Magnus rubbed his chin.

That was true, he had not thought too much about it since Sonny had managed to block this attempt on the kids by intervening. To use Mei and Micro Ice, would send a clear message for the pirate chief to be careful who he messed with. Magnus decided to act now, this was sure to send some shivers into Sonnys camp.

"Activate the virus in Micro Ice and Mei. Sonny is sure to think it is neutralized. I will show him that in wars, there is no such thing as being nice to the enemy and every war has casualties" he said.

The pirate saluted, and went to do as he was asked.

* * *

The Snow Kids did not know what to believe with all this. The Xenons was always one of the last teams they met up with, and now The pirates had eliminated them from the cup.

D'Jok was having his own thoughts of how The Xenons would feel now. For the pirates to try to make contact with them now, after this defeat, was not something he would consider a wise move. But then again, they had experience that he and others had no idea of. Sonny would not have sent a team to deal with them, unless he knew it was safe. He had seen that much when he was on Shiloh. Safety always came first, second came creativity. He sighed as he sat down. He could not explain why, but this had a bad feeling to it. What Sonny had explained, it left his team, The snow kids, in a tough spot. The Xenons played like them, rough, and very hard. If that was the reason for the resonance developing so fast, then how could The Snow Kids play their regular game play? Things were about to change, for him, for his team. D'Jok felt he was loosing direction. If playing like they usually did would lead to what they had just seen in The Xenons, their match against The Gyros would have to played very differently than they usually did. Rocket seemed to have the same thoughts.

"Team, I think we need to change our game strategy, to avoid the same thing that happened to the Xenons to also happen to us" he said.

D'Jok nodded. Inside, he felt frozen. He had gone through it all with a very innocent outlook at the galaxy, thinking himself relatively safe, despite being the son of the most wanted man in the galaxy. But recent events had shown him, someone knew of this secret, an enemy of his father. And this very enemy seemed to have no scruples about pulling him in as a tool to get even with Sonny. Not his fathers fault. But the actions, where he had been used to hurt his own father, D'Jok was starting to understand why Sonny would keep his distance most the time. It was not because he didnt love him, it was an attempt to keep D'Jok out of the line of fire. He felt a hand on his arm. As he looked up, he saw Meis worried eyes look at him.

Her fingers interlocked with his.

"We are going to find a way D'Jok. I know you are worried, but trust me, we will get through this unharmed" she said.

D'Jok could not hold back a small smile at that, as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Everyone, sit down, we will make a new game strategy now, all together. Resonance or not, The snow kids will advance, we wont go the same route as the Xenons" Tia said with determination in her voice.

* * *

As the Team gathered, Sonny and Clamp left the room, headed towards the lab. As soon as the team had a new strategy in place, they would come and provide the samples needed for further testing. Sonny felt slightly worried at what he would find. This had started on Paradisia, and it affected all the galactik teams, except one, his pirates. Whatever crazy plan Magnus had cooked up, it had to be stopped. Even if he had to resort to using measures that was really not pirate tactic. And working with Technoid would possibly be the best way to resolve this. Sonny felt a sting in the wound as he moved a bit quicker than planned. And Clamp noticed.

"Sonny, how is that wound healing? And dont tell me that you are fine, I know this still hurts" he said.

Sonny nodded. There was no point in trying to fake it. And this was the reason Corso was more stressed than normal, that and the development of his own flux. They had talked about it, how Sonnys flux seemed to progress to mastery faster than the other pirates. And it had Corso worried. He had spent most of the night, explaining about the flux masters, and how their fluxes made them a human weapon. If you could control your flux at will, there was no restrictions to when you could use it, flux masters were an exception from the flux society s rules. But with such power came hidden dangers. There was still planets that would kidnap or force a flux master to do their bidding in a war. If Sonny held such power and could handle it, Technoid was the least of his enemies to worry about. His face was known throughout the galaxy, and the pirates always had to be careful where they went, as there was always those that would want to collect the bounty for his capture. Corsos worry was tied to the underground black market, a place the pirates were known to go with stolen goods to sell, for now, this was not at all a safe place for Sonny to be. If he was found out, he would fetch a higher price to a nation wanting to use a flux master to start a war, than any goods they could offer up. Corso worried this would leak, and put him in even greater danger than before. And the worry was justified. Sonny had to stop using the flux societys carefully made training plan while he recovered. He felt the energy build up inside, growing stronger. For now, he could control it, but if it became too strong, it could single him out, leave a marker on him, making it impossible to hide. Sonny sighed as he looked at Clamp.

"I am not going to lie Clamp, the wound isnt healing as fast as I hoped it would. It has Corso worried, he suspects Technoid may have done something while they transported me out of the vents in the hospital. I am hoping my flux will help it though. I read up extensively on what this flux can do. It was a massive read through, but informative. As soon as we found the initial file Magnus thought he erased, I was able to find more information, with Arties help. The pirates under Magnus erased it from all known databases, or so he thought. The pirates has a fail safe, wich saved it. That is where Artie found it. Corso and Bennett,Artie and I have all read up on this and now how a better idea of things. This flux could be a blessing in disguise" Sonny said thoughtfully.

Clamp looked at him.

"Maybe Dame Simbai has something in her arsenal that can help. We are still trying to get an immunity agreement secured, Aarch wont let Aduim do too much now close to the birth. Until we get that sorted out, you need to be very careful Sonny. I am not sure I can take on fabricating a cure for the resonance all alone. After all, my knowledge is more on the machines, while your the one with the brain behind things" Clamp smiled carefully as he looked at his long time friend.

Sonny couldnt help but smile back. It was true what Clamp said, they had a similar thought process about many things, but a different approach as to how to get it done. That was part of the reason they had been such a good match when they constructed the Meta flux. This time, there was a striking similarity to those days, only, if they could not cure this, their galaxy would most surely first fall into a new war, one where no planet had a defence though their fluxes because of a galactik resonance. The more he started to piece the details together, the more Sonny realised, Magnus had fooled them all. They had helped him escape the planet where he had been imprisoned, Magnus thanked them, by not telling the full truth of what they were up against. Well, that was on him too. He should have investigated the matter closer. But they had been so caught up in stopping Harris and Vega, it completely slipped his mind at the time. And Magnus knew him, damn, he knew them all too well. He knew that Sonny would react like this, that he would focus solely on the enemy at hand, allowing him to secretly scheme whatever plan he had, behind his back. None of them had caught it, and the result was, now they had to deal with him as an enemy to their cause. Normally, sharing territory would not have been a problem, Shiloh was big enough for more than one pirate gang. What bothered him, was all the innocent parties that was dragged into this, by Magnus.

"I will ask her Clamp, just to have everyone put their minds to rest" Sonny said calmly.

The two friends smiled as they headed to the lab, preparing to test the snow kids for resonance.

* * *

At Technoid,Duke Maddox had also noticed how the Xenons had been defeated by The pirates. To say that this new strategy of the under dog team surprised him was an understatement. The pirates looked determined and unbeatable. To be honest, he was not even sure his own team, the cyborgs from former Team paradisia, could defeat them. But what was worrying him, was this strange weakness many players seemed to suffer from after the Paradisian cup. Was this a trick on the pirates side? Somehow, that appeared unlikely. Sonny had gone into hiding since his men helped him escape the hospital before they could transfer him to the new hidden facility. Duke Maddox sighed. He did not want to injure Sonny further, but if this thing that had happened to the Xenons had anything to do with flux, he needed to speak to Sonny. And Sonny would not come seek him out if there was a chance he would be held captive. The conversation from that night came back to Maddox often. Sonny had come to him, because he could not find the information he sought anywhere else. And when he had explained what role Harris had played in things, it had shocked Duke Maddox, to his very core. How could not only Bleylock, but also Harris have pulled this massive operation off behind his back? He had come to realise, he owed Sonny an apology, for accusing him of crimes that his own people was behind. He thought about the days that Sonny had worked for him. And it made him think. Was there any of Sonnys old research in Technoid files still, that could be used to stop a new attack? And since he had received word from Sonny about Harris untimely death, he had decided not to go after the pirate chief over this. Sonny had clearly tried to stop whatever plan Harris had. It brought him back to the mysterious loss of power that the Xenons had. And the even more mysterious thing was this sudden flux the pirates seemed to play with. They did not use it too much, it was almost as if they tried to limit the use of it some, what could be the reason for that? detection? As much as he would have wanted to know where he could find Sonny, he also knew it would be an anything but easy undertaking. Could the Xenons loss of energy be connected to the mysterious flux of The pirates? Something made him put that thought away. He had seen this in The Lightnings, and also, other teams during the paradisian cup. This time, Sonny was not guilty of any wrong doings. Someone else was. Duke Maddox did not like this development. Something was going on, and he was not sure Technoid was up to the task of stopping it. It made him make a call. A secretary soon appeared.

"Find me someone I can trust, preferably human. I need this person to go to the underground areas the pirates normally hide. I need to speak to Sonny Blackbones. And he needs be told,I wont have him arrested this time. I..need his help with a matter of urgence".

* * *

That was the last of them. The pirates team under Corsos lead, had managed to get The Xenons to their hotel, where they had gently left them outside. Sure, there was bound to be a media spectacle around this, but they had what they needed. Corso made sure the samples was securely strapped around his waist. Sonny never would have ordered this, if it wasnt critical. First, they needed to deal with this, before they could take things to the next stage. As they left quietly, Corso called Sonny, to inform him of the status.

Sonny nodded as Corso reported.

"They will be helped by the staff at the hotel. Return to The Snow Kids hotel as soon as you can. Clamp and I are about to take samples from the snow kids now. We will compare the level of resonance in the snow kids to The Xenons. Bleylock may have started the whole process, but for every enemy we eliminate, there is bound to come someone new, with more skills. We wont have a choice this time. All available help must be made use of" Sonny explained.

Corso nodded.

"If by available help, you refer to Technoid, I am still going to urge you to be careful Sonny. I have never seen anyone itch more than Duke Maddox about getting his hands on you. Back when we were immune, I could have sworn that he offered you your old job back when we were in his box" Corso said.

Sonny chuckled for a moment.

"He did Corso, and we both knew I would not take that bait. I know too much about their operations to want to get my hands dirty with that again. But, if the situation calls for it, I would most definately be willing to consider a team work situation" he said.

Corso nodded.

"I got the samples. Be ready to do whatever magic you and Clamp need to preform as soon as I return" he said.

Sonny nodded, before he ended the call.

* * *

They were done with the samples, so The snow Kids decided to practice in the holo trainer. Dame Simbai would operate it, while Sonny and Clamp got started in the lab. Sonny was taking a risk, and they knew it. He did not have an immunity agreement here, but Clamp was not feeling sure he could do this alone,so Sonny had decided to stay, and help out. She had noticed him sometimes make a small sound as if he still hurt where he had been hit in the chest. Dame Simbai had examined the wound, wich healed, but slowly. This needed a boost. And as luck had it, she knew what herbs would help. Sonny had gratefully taken the mix she gave him, and follow as he seemed in pain, Then she had made him a mix that was put on top of the wound under a bandage. She also prepared a mix for Sonny to use. He made sure to follow her instructions to the use. This should enable him to make a quick get away if he needed to. Cause right now, they needed anyone with knowledge of flux and resonance research to help out. Where would the snow kids fare now, after they had seen what happened to The Xenons? Dame Simbai was worried for how the team would play. If they played as aggressive as The Xenons, they too risked elimination at the very start. She had a bad feeling about all this, after the practice, she needed to speak to Brim Balarius. See what he knew about this.

The team took their positions and started to play.

"Lets try some new tactics, so we dont run into the same problem as the Xenons did. We know they play aggressive and use a lot of energy. But we also saw the pirates play, and as luck has it, we have had training sessions with them. We learned how to play better as a team, and not depend on our flux too much. I was thinking, how if we try to practice that for now, to have a new strategy against the Gyros? " Rocket suggested.

D'Jok agreed.

"We need to play a totally new strategy this cup. They all know how we play. The key to win, is for us to reinvent our play style. Only by the element of surprise, are we able to win this" he said.

Tia smiled brightly.

"We changed our playing style for every cup so far, that would not be a surprise, the surprise is how we change it" she said.

Micro Ice blinked at D'Jok.

"What Tia is trying to say D'Jok, is that you need to let the air out of your head before we walk on to that pitch. Think you can do that for the team?" he teased.

"I spent some time alone on Shiloh Micro Ice, playing with the pirates there. None of you know what I learned from them. Maybe I even learned a few tricks I have not shown yet" D'Jok replied.

Mei smirked at that remark.

"That would mean you learned to be humble, and admit to your mistakes. I need to see it before I believe it" she teased.

Even Sinedd smirked.

"Yeah D'Jok, if you learned something new, it would be a good idea to show it during practice, so the rest of us can adjust to it" he said.

Ahito blinked to D'Jok.

"Whatever you learned there, if it helps keep the ball away from me, I am begging you to do it" he said.

Thran grinned

"Well, Ahito learned how to stay awake, so why not D'Jok learn to be humble?" he said.

D'Jok grinned at the teasing.

"How about we stop talking, and start playing on the new strategy instead? In case you forgot, there is still a cup to be played" he reminded them mildly.

Thran grinned.

"I like these improvements already" he said.

Tia focused back on the play.

"Ready to start us off Dame Simbai?" she asked mildly as the ball was in play.

* * *

Corso handed Sonny the vails with the flux samples from the Xenons. He watched as Sonny and Clamp quickly started the tests. Before long, they had the results. It was not good.

Dame Simbai had joined them after the practice was over.

"The Snow kids decided to change tactics after they saw what happened to The Xenons. They wont be aggressive like earlier. The team play training from the boot camp with the pirates will come in as a helpful tool here" she said.

Clamp did not look convinced.

"That is, if they can stick to that strategy. They are still one of the youngest teams in the cup. I have seen them before. One thing is to have the intention, another is to actually stick to it" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"With the results we now have, they dont have a choice. They have to swing this another way. Aggression only accelerates the progression of the resonance. I have asked a team to keep eyes on The Xenons in their home planet. Just because they are now out of the cup, it does not mean they are safe from danger. This is where I would consider getting some help to keep an eye on them, from a very unexpected place" he said.

Corso looked suspicious at him.

"What are you up to Sonny? I know that look on your face. I am not gonna like what you plan, so why dont you just tell me right away?" he asked.

Sonny nodded.

"We,the pirates, are not in a good position to do such kind of surveillance. We beat them and sent them out of the cup. That hurts any reptilians pride. The last ones they would even talk to are the pirates. But, Luur is no fool. He will realise that something has happened. And when he does, he is going to want answers. We cant give them to him, yet. There is still more work to be done. But we can actually get him and The Xenons under some watchful eye with my plan" he said.

Corso looked suspicious.

"Then, who is going to do this, if not us Sonny? I am aware of the risks involved here. And I know you, a little too well. Say it. Who is going to be our eyes on the Xenons? And are more teams in danger?" he asked.

Sonny had a hard glimpse in his hazels as he spoke.

"All the data says the same. We are dealing with the real possibillity of a galactik resonance here. If so, it will take out the teams in galactik football, and the fluxes. From what we know, all fluxes but one may face being destroyed. And the one that remains, is The pirates, And the seed of Shiloh. But that theory has holes. Magnus would not be that obvious. He gave us the seed for more reasons than to put a marker on us. I am not clear on all the details yet, but in time I will be.

What needs to happen in regards to the Xenons, is that I need eyes on them. And it so happens, while you were busy, a young man, from Technoid approached one of my men, from The Rivet Club, with a message from Duke Maddox. I have yet to meet with Maddox in person, but Technoid will deal with the Xenons" he said.

Corso could not help but grind teeth.

"A physical meeting? Sonny, you are still wounded. I am not sure you would be able to escape them. I am not letting you do this" Corso stated.

Sonny smiled.

"Relax Corso. I dont need to, at least not yet. But read the message the messenger brought" he said and handed Corso a paper.

Corso quickly read through it. Then he looked at Sonny, worried.

"This is bad Sonny. Duke Maddox would not ask this if it wasnt" he said.

Sonny nodded.

He turned his back on them for a second, looking out into space, from the spinning star Genesis.

"A war is coming, we best be prepared that this one will need old enemies to work together, if we dont, we might soon face a galaxy that will possibly never recover" he said silently.

* * *

_Longer than normal I know. I try to focus more on The snow kids as a team and how they would develop their play in a fourth cup. The resonance was a track I picked up from season 3, and wich started in season 2. I felt this trial has to be explored further, as such a phenomenon is more or less the perfect set up to make enemies work together, to save the galaxy rather than tear it apart._

_There will be more D_'_Jok and Mei moments in the chapter to come, as I am not a very good romance writer, I am working to find an angle for how to bring them even closer than they are. Being the fan of the pirates that I am, it makes sense to me, that Sonny and the pirates would be a far bigger piece of this season than the previous ones, as it was kind of always in the background from the moment Sonny learned who D_'_Jok was. I am sorry it is taking so long to get all the chapters out, but it is hard to find time to write too much nowdays. I hope this at least makes up for some of the waiting time. The story is about to get a lot more exciting now. And thank you for all your support and encouragement. It is very helpful for me to develop the story more. Happy reading._


	21. Chapter 21

It was late. The young Technoid employee felt maximum discomfort coming here. It was underground, and clearly, a hang out for many pirates. It was shabby, clearly thrown up very fast, as a make shift base of sorts. A old model droid served small portions of snack, and soft drinks. The clientel was pirates for sure, or associated with them. He wondered if he should tell Duke Maddox about this place, they could easily find a way to finally trap Blackbones now that they ventured into the areas he was sure to hide in. Sonny himself seemed to be hard to find, even more now after his injury. It seemed evident the pirates had taken him somewhere safe to recover. Technoid knew the rumours was that the pirates second in command, Corso, was acting on Sonnys behest now. That indicated he was injured still. He had delivered the message to the one pirate he recognized, Stevens, the pirates striker. Then, the droid had brought him something to drink, while he waited for Sonnys reply. Stevens had not said a word, just took the handwritten message from him,and had someone else take off with the message for Sonny, making sure he cold not see where they were headed. Now, he saw Stevens approached the table where he as sitting. He handed a card to him. It looked plain and the message was clear. Sonny had cleared a secure channel for Duke Maddox to communicate with him, until he could determine if he could trust this. Not that he blamed them for that. Sonny was the most wanted man in the galaxy. He had to watch his back all the time, especially from Technoid. He was also in hiding, due to the injury from the hospital. But that was not Duke Maddox worries now. It was all about The Xenons and their mysterious loss of energy, that led to them now being out of the cup. It was the buzz of the week. Everyone talked about it, but no one could explain it. What had happened to The Xenons during the first elimination match of the final sixteen? And tomorrow, The snow kids prepared for their match, facing The Gyros. It had Technoid worried, and on stand by. The Xenons had appeared dazed and confused when they were found outside their hotel. There was also the incident of the missing galactik kids that had been kidnapped a few months prior to this. Technoid kept it out of the media, but they now knew, Sonny Blackbones and his pirates had been called for help on the matter of tracking them down. Wich was a god send. Technoid could do many things, but this kind of tracking was by far outside their territory. The pirates had the know how, and had acted within hours, with little to no information. Their skillset, despite being of the criminal kind, was amazing. And that same skillset was the reason for Technoid now reaching out with an olive branch to the pirates.

He looked at Stevens.

"Is Sonny close by?I would like to talk to him" he asked.

Stevens shook his head.

"You best be careful what you ask. Technoid represenatives is not someone we trust, especially not where Sonny is concerned. he will keep his distance for now. You dont need to worry for him. He is safe and trying to figure this out. If the situation calls for it, Duke Maddox will hear from him in time. Until then, there will be silence on his part" Stevens said.

The young Technoid employee looked around.

"And if I was to bring Technoid here, to have you all arrested, in an effort to track him down?" he asked.

Stevens chuckled.

"This is just a temporary set up, with pirates helping out. It is not our real hide out. You may as well give up. You are not going to capture Sonny. He is too well protected and smart to let you pick up his trail. For him to generously offer you a direct secure line to reach him, is rare. Dont misuse this opourtunity. And now, it is time you leave. You will be escorted back, by a few trusted men.I will inform Sonny of this. you wont find this place again" Stevens said.

The young Technoid employee nodded.

"He is still injured from the laser blasts, right?That is why we have not seen him lately" he asked carefully.

Stevens had to nodd that.

"Dont worry about it. Sonny receives medical care from some of the best, the wounds are healing just fine. he is ready to get back in action,it is just a safety measure that he is not coming out of hiding. But he is hard at work with this matter. I pray he finds a solution, before another team suffers the same way The Xenons did" he said.

The technoid employee nodded.

"I dont know much yet, all I know is that Duke Maddox is very serious about solving this. He said that despite all our expertise, Sonny and Clamp is the ones at the top with flux related their expertise is needed to crack this open" he said.

Stevens nodded.

" He is right. And they are trying to come to terms with how to handle this matter. As soon as they have something concrete, Sonny will inform him, till then, there will be radio silence. Sonny is being more than fair, considering it is not all that long ago that he was held captive in a hospital,being prepared to serve a sentence of an unknown lenght" Stevens said.

The Technoid employee nodded.

"If we had succeeded, Sonny would not have been hurt. Duke Maddox would have welcomed him back at any time. Sonnys skills are that unique" he managed.

Stevens shook his head.

"You know that wont happen. Sonny will cooperate if the situation requires it, but he wont return to Technoid. It is not like The Pirates would let him either. He is our leader, and we will protect him against any danger. Be glad he chose to give you this option now, if it was me, I would not" Stevens said.

They had reached the outer perimeter of this makeshift pirate lair, Stevens had some others escort the Technoid employee out, before he ordered the place cleaned up and taken down. A pirate would never lead Technoid into their real lair. That would be careless. Stevens then reported to Corso so the next step could be initiated...

* * *

This was the night. The Gyros, an unknown team, was to take on The snow Kids, the current three time champions.

What could they expect from The Snow Kids this season? It seemed impossible to think they could do it a fourth time. By now, everyone knew their play style. Had The Snow Kids changed strategy? Nothing was less certain. Callie was excited. However. She had seen The snow Kids make changes that was totally unexpected before. The Snow Kids was a team she had followed since Aarch had formed it. And the Team had been through ups and downs along that path, changes that had made them stronger, and value the friendship they shared that much more stronger.

During the day, while preparing, D'Jok had invited Mei for a walk in Genesis forest. This area was of limits to the public, during the cup matches, it was a safe heaven for the teams participating, to clear their head and get some personal time. Mei had locked her fingers in D'Joks as they were had been through so much on their way back to each other had challenged her on her own insecurities and sometimes overly high ambitions, and D'Jok on his big headeddness had changed a lot over the time that had passed since they they had come close to being permanently over. It was only thanks to the help of friends, and also the pirates, that they had found the courage to talk things over. Mei sighed. Much of what had happened, she did not really want at all deep down. But With her mothers interference, her ambitions for her daughter, It had almost ended things for her and D'Jok in a way that there would have been no turning back. Sinedd had allowed her to play striker with The Shadows. It had helped her with some of her insecurities and also, gain a perspective. Mei felt good about playing defence, she was no striker. But her mom had never felt at home with it, or her new role. And now, knowing whom D'Joks father was, it felt both safe and also a bit nerve wrecking at times. But what mattered the most, was alone time with D'Jok. They prepared mentally for the match, but she could sense he was worried.

"Are you worried about the match D'Jok? After what happened to The Xenons, I have to admit..with an unknown team like The Gyros, I am worried about wheter we have the right strategy" she confessed.

D'Jok led her over to a bench and sat her down. He knew they had to talk this out now, if not, it would affect their play. And that was one thing they could not afford now.

"Mei, You and The Snow Kids are everything to me. I had to have my ego pretty deflated to see this, but now I do. I cant guarantee we will advance. But I am as frightened as you at what we saw happen to The Xenons. I hoped Dad knew what was going on, to learn that he is still piecing this together..I am worried we are in over our heads. I think..we may have to play with the strategy we agreed upon for the first half, pace ourselves, to see how they play. If we do as The Xenons.." D'Jok let the words hang in the air.

Mei nodded. There was a slightly frightened look in her eyes right now.

"I try not to worry, but I am not sure I know how to handle being eliminated this early on either" she said.

D'Jok nodded. For once, he was glad they slept in separate rooms at the hotel It was enough that his escalating nightmares about them being defeated due to him sustaining a serious injury,kept waking Micro Ice, he had to plead with him not to tell Sonny. If his father knew,D'Jok felt he would be stopped from playing.

They continued to walk in silence, the threes made it have a calming feel to it. Genesis forrest was an oasis of peace. Mei led him over to a bench, there they sat down. D'Jok could not explain the gesture, he was certainly not a flower guy, that was more Rockets thing, but he bent down to the ground and he picked up a white flower, with a tiny blue rim on it, and put it in Meis hair. Mei looked a bit shy as he did this. She was not used to this from him. D'Jok looked at her, like he saw her for the first time. They had both carried masks for so long. It had been all about the football for him, and he had failed to see how they all had changed. How Mei needed space every now and then. She was a promising young model, with many contracts, not to mention a mother that tried to control her. Maybe it was love, but it was getting hard to see at times. He looked down, as he felt Mei wrap her fingers around his hand. Her sapphire blue eyes looking so seductively at him. He could not resist, he felt her lips on his, as the kiss grew deeper. They were so caught up in their own world, they failed to notice the player that hid in the shadows. Three times champions true, but not this cup belonged to his team,and the new galactik ruler to be, Magnus Blade. Soon it would be a full on victory...

* * *

Duke Maddox looked at the data he was presented. All the Xenons had resonance,a phenomenon he knew very little about. But the effects was such, it rendered the player drained of his flux and energy on the pitch. It was possible that his new team, the former team paradisia could bypass it,being cyborgs. But he wished he had Sonny Blackbones captured now. He didnt think Sonny was responsible for the resonance, it wasnt like him. Someone else was behind this, And that someone had every marking of being a dangerous adversary. Sonny had named him, the leader of the pirates before him, Magnus Blade. Duke Maddox vaguely recalled the masked pirate, a mask he had seen in many raids targeting Technoid. Sonny had been far more open, not hiding behind a mask, and with a loyal crew behind him. Maybe attempting to capture him was the wrong way to go about things now. Duke Maddox decided to see if he could establish contact on the communication link the pirates had given him. Despite going back to where his assistant had met with Stevens, it was clear that the pirates did not intend on letting Sonnys whereabouts be known. The location was whiped clean, no sign the pirates had ever been there. Possibly he was still hurt and laying low while he healed. But the fact that a secure link to communicate with him had been created,suggested that what was going on was bad, and it seemed Sonny had realised he could not do this all by himself. Was there was a chance to make up for the past? Sonny had every reason to mistrust him now,and that was nobodys fault but his own. Duke Maddox punched a code and brought up Sonnys file, all the known data they had on him. Could it be, he had been mistaken? Duke Maddox studied the theft files. It was not overly much stolen either, just enough to get by for the pirates. And then there was the espionage. Their field of expertise. The data could have been sold for profit, but that didnt seem to be the data that was hacked. A closer study, showed a pattern, missing pirates, or associates to them, family. Duke Maddox had never taken the time to really study his former employee closely, he had relied on his staff, to tell him the truth. It seemed that had not been the best choice. Duke Maddox processed what he had just learned. He owed Sonny an apology. But the pirates would not let him near. Sonny was protected behind an ironclad defence,he had learned that much at the hospital. Duke Maddox had secretly realised years ago, they would never catch Sonny unless he himself wanted to be taken. And at this point, whatever had hit the Xenons, was very likely to surface elsewhere too. But whom would be the next team hit? Duke Maddox looked at the list. Tonights match was Snow Kids versus Gyros. Both Teams had participated in the Paradisian cup, wich started to appear as the origin for this resonance. The Xenons had explained that some faint symptoms of what they now experienced, had first surfaced there. Lord Phoenix had to have known of this. But it seemed he had died on Paradisia, until Sonny had revealed that Magnus Blade and Lord Phoenix was one and the same. What could be the motive for his actions? Duke Maddox decided to take a real hard look on the information they had at Technoid. If the pirates was willing to cooperate, this would not be a small thing. And if they were to solve it, he had to take the pressure off of the pirates for now. Duke Maddox made his decision.

He called his secretary to his office.

"Halt any and all arrest warrants for Sonny Blackbones and his pirates. We need their help, and Sonny is not going to come out of hiding if he suspects he is being chased. Give him some breathing room, but leave the wanted poster up. Just notify all units, if he is seen, to not seize him. We need someone with their skills now, to do the digging, this is out of Technoids league. I never thought I would say this, but this time, Technoid needs the Pirates help"...

* * *

Time to get ready. D'Jok and The snow kids were ready to head out on the pitch to face The Gyros. A totally new and unknown team to them. All they knew of their playing, was the information in the file The Pirates had brought them. While it was likely that The Gyros also knew a lot about them. They were three time champions, the one team everyone wanted to beat. The only team to successfully do that, was Team paradisia. D'Jok had an uneasy feeling as he set foot on the pitch. There was something in the air, he just could not explain it,but he had a bad feeling, tonight something would happen, something bad. He looked at The Gyros. These creatures was strange to look at, almost half human and half goat. But for now, just another team they had to beat in order to advance in the cup. The snow kids took their places, D'Jok smirked at Micro Ice whom was to start off todays match. Sinedd was waiting in the coaches pod, to replace whomever would need it in the second half.

"Remember, we all play by the new strategy tonight, The Gyros dont know that. Use the first half to feel out how they play, then, we will play for real in the second half" Sounded Rockets voice.

D'Jok nodded.

"Lets show them why we are The Snow Kids, the only team to ever win the galactik football cup three times in a row" said Micro Ice.

"Thats the spirit. And while we are at it, lets just focus on the game, and try to remember it is just that, a game. We dont need to prove anything,just have a good time out there"said Tia.

There was the ball, and the game was on...

* * *

Magnus watched as The snow Kids, true to their habit, went in strong and hard. That was a move meant to intimidate The Gyros. The Gyros was a team he had considered as his chosen team, but they were too strong willed for his taste. They could easily win the cup, yes,but what they wanted in return for doing so for him, was a price he was not willing to pay. He was a pirate god damn it. Pirates never made bad deals where they did not come out as winners on the other end. Especially not where money was concerned. Magnus knew, in order for him to establish himself as a galactik ruler, he needed money, lots of it. Not everyone would surrender to his reign easily. Some could be bought off, others he needed to fight with. Then, there was the situation with Sonny. He liked the man, he admitted that, but Sonny was not going to play by his rules. He was going to try to foil things any way he could. At this point, Technoid was best equipped to deal with him. Sonny would not be harmed,he just would not be able to get in his way. But first, he needed to find him. And Sonny was hard to track,since he had failed to get any men inside his camp to keep an eye on them. The corso clone had been deactivated and put in storage. It was clearly a tool used to keep an eye on him. Magnus shook his head. D'Jok was making a run for the goal, aiming for a high up pass from Micro Ice. He was halfway up, when it seemed all his flux vanished. Magnus nodded. It seemed the hypnotic fail safe he had used on the boy, was really going to cause a problem for him now...

* * *

At The snow kids coaches pod, Clamp and Dame Simbai looked horrified at D'Joks uncontrolled fall. Micro Ice leapt forwards and managed to break the worst of the fall for his best friend.

"D'Jok,D'Jok, what happened? You were making a super jump, only to come falling out of the sky, litterally" he heard Micro Ice say with a worried voice.

His Team mates had all gathered around him. He tried to sit up, but found that he felt as if he had no strength left.

"I..I cant feel my arms, I cant move" he whispered, as fear gripped him.

"Get him off the pitch, I send in Sinedd to continue the play. Dont worry guys, we will take care of D'Jok" sounded Rockets voice from the communicator.

D'Jok closed his eyes as he was lifted of the pitch. His nightmare was becoming a reality...

* * *

At The snow kids hotel, now a safe zone for the pirates to operate from, Corso looked mortified at the screen. If only it had been any other player than D'Jok. Sonny had turned away from the screen, but Corso could see how he opened and clenched his fists, hard, to the point of growing white. This was a side to his friend that never bade well for the one that caused it. And it was clear what Sonny thought.

"Have we got anything at all that can neutralize the effect?" he asked.

Corso almost cringed at the sound.

Sonnys voice was changed, from the mild mannered pirate chief he loved and respected, to a cold and nearly unrecognizable one.

"I will make something. But Sonny, what happened, its resonance right?" he asked, fearing the answer.

Sonny nodded as he froze the image.

"with a side order of hypnotics. I need to get to D'Jok, see how bad this is, then, I will find a way to counter it, or at least stop it from growing worse" he said.

Corso nodded.

"Let me find a safe way in. Techoid is present at the pitch, they havent earned the right to arrest you yet" he tried.

Sonny nodded as he looked at the screen where the game continued.

"First Rocket, now D'Jok, the most powerful players of each team. This is not good Corso. We too have players that play this aggressive" Sonny thought out loudly.

"They didnt have their flux during the paradisian cup Sonny, you kno, they may still be immune" Corso suggested.

Sonny nodded.

"If they are, they are the only team that is. the other teams that played would also be affected. I dont know Magnus plan yet, but from what I see, this is about a galactik takeover, much the same as Bleylock and Harris had in mind, only, he may actually have what it takes to make it happen" Sonny said.

Corso felt as if he grew pale.

"Sonny, if so, he has completely lost it. But he cant do this without help" Corso said.

Sonny agreed.

"He has helpers out there, and we must find out who they are,before the galactik resonance strikes at all the football teams this galaxy has. That has been his plan all along, take out the fluxes, so no one can stop him" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"No one but the ones that is considered outlaws, our team, The pirates"...


	22. Chapter 22

The beeps sounded like they came from far away. D'Jok slowly opened his eyes, feeling like he had been run over by a train. His body felt bruised and sore, and very heavy to move. Dame Simbai was standing over him with a worried expression on her face. He wasnt even in the wardrobe. He was back at the Snow kids hotel, at her clinic. D'Jok realised from her expression, what had happened was serious. This could not spell good news for him, or his team.

"You are awake, that is good, how are you feeling?" she asked concerned.

D'Jok tried to sit up, but whatever this was, he found himself too weak. He fell back down.

That caused the panic to rise in him.

"Whats happening to me?I feel like I weigh a ton and I can barely even control my body. Its like it wont obey me. I hope I am not permanently hurt" he managed to force out, voice shaking with share fear. This was not the way he wanted to end his football career. Not the same way as Rocket.

"It appears to be the same thing that struck Rocket, Sonny and Clamp called it resonance. Some rest should cure it only, in you, it seems to be stronger than with Rocket. It has your father worried, to say the least. He has been pacing back and forth ever since I brought you here, trying to work this out in his mind" she informed.

D'Jok nodded that. He heard the door slide open, and then, he felt his fathers hand touch his shoulders, in a gentle comforting way. Sonny carefully lifted him into a halfway seated position, being careful not to expose his full level of worry to his son. Rocket had been exposed over time, in netherball, his son never played netherball. This meant that either something had happened when he played for Team Paradisia, or, in worst case, like he started to get a sneaking suspicion about, this resonance was going to spread far, exposing all galactik football teams. If he was right, they were seeing the start of a galactik spread resonance, one that all teams, except the pirates, was exposed to.

"D'Jok..." Sonnys voice was filled with emotion as he spoke his sons name.

D'Jok felt Sonny lift him a little more, so he could hug him.

"Dad..I am scared. What is happening to me? Will I be like this permanently or return to normal."D'Jok whimpered.

He felt Sonny hold him securely, but his heart was racing, a sure sign Sonny did not have a clear answer to give, at least not yet.

"I know Son, I got no clear answer to give just yet, but I am working on it with Clamp. You caused quite a scare for the entire galaxy with that fall"Sonny said.

D'Jok sighed.

"Micro Ice broke the worst of it. I had a softer landing than I prepared for" he tried to joke.

Sonny smiled for a second.

"He is still out there, playing. The entire team seems to be playing for you tonight, whatever caused you to experience this, your team is making up for it. They are in the lead, by 2 to 1, and from the looks of it, Mei is going to score" Sonny informed as he turned his son towards the holo tv.

Mei had a fiercely determined look in her eyes, as she passed to Sinedd, whom set the ball high in the right corner.

D'Jok was having questions.

"Dad, I know you already know, compared to Rockets results, wich of us is worst off right now, Rocket or me? Dont try to sugar coat it, just be honest" he asked.

Sonny nodded as he grabbed a chair and set down.

"D'Jok, the resonance is a complicated scientific problem. There is, as of now, no known cure. Corso, Dame Simbai, Clamp and I will be working to see if we can come up with something to counteract the effect, but it is not looking good, for neither of you. But it seems, Rocket has a weaker resonance compared to yours right now. I suspect this has to do with the fact that Magnus pulled flux from both stadiums on Paradisa. The players on all teams were unaware of this, and it was masked, so you would not feel the effect. But the more aggressive the play..." he stopped for a second.

D'Jok got it.

"The stronger the resonance becomes. So, what happens now, for me Dad?" he asked.

He could tell Sonny was trying to find a way out of responding to this question.

"For now, you will not be playing. It is too dangerous. Until we got this under control, you will be sidelined. Even Rocket agrees with this" Sonny said.

D'Jok nodded, but he did not turn fast enough to avoid Sonny seeing his eyes fill with tears.

It tugged at his heartstrings to see his son like this. Football was his life, his self proclaimed destiny. And if worst came to be, Magnus Blade, a Ghost from his past, had now effectively shattered his sons biggest dream.

And despite the situation looking grim,there was more teams affected. After seeing tonights match, Sonny knew he had no choice. He had to call Duke Maddox, they needed all hands on deck to work on making something to counteract the resonance. It was becoming a threat to the galaxy, and he had to get a better idea of how Magnus was had planned to carry out this plan of his. As soon as D'Jok had calmed down, Sonny left him in Dame Simbais care, as he went to find Corso. It was time old adversaries joined forces to protect the galaxy from falling into war...

* * *

The victory and defeat of the Gyros felt very hollow for the Snow Kids. Sure, they won the match and advanced, but all their thoughts were on D'Jok. If it had been a lesser event, he would have stayed at the stadium until the match was over. But Dame Simbai had him taken back to the hotel imidiately. Whatever this was, was clearly serious. As they gathered in the wardrobe to change, there was little that indicated a festive mood among the snow kids players. All they wanted, was to get out of the stadium and go check up on D'Jok. Rocket and Clamp joined them.

"How is D'Jok? Have you heard anything back from Dame Simbai?" Mei stammered as she saw them.

Micro Ice too looked worried. He was not his normal festive mood.

"She is taking care of him now. Sonny is also there. I hope he can find a way to counter act this. It seems, this is not just D'Jok that is at risk of developing this resonance. The more aggressive the play, the higher the risk that you will be the next" Clamp said.

Rocket had also paid close attention to what had been said about the matter.

"I suggest, we make team play our new strategy and leave all the aggressive play out of things. We just had a terrible shock, seeing D'Jok, one of our strongest players, get sidelined. I know how that feels, trust me. I will try to talk to him about it, for now, it is only D'Jok and I on the team that is struck with this. I would prefer that no more players get this as well. This is where our training boot camp with the pirates will serve us. But expect that this is a scenario we may see with other friends as well. It will be hard, but all we can do, is try to warn those we care about and let them make the decision if they want to listen to us or not. Other than that, Sonny has a meter where he can gauge how badly affected we are. We will all have to be checked tonight" Rocket said, looking at his team.

"So, we are all at risk of not being able to play football any more then? This thing is all entirely Lord Phoenix fault" Micro Ice pouted.

Mei sent him a cross look.

"You mean Magnus Blade Micro Ice. Unlike you, I paid attention to what Sonny said after the rescue. Seems he and Corso know this man well. And it was clearly not all good memories" Mei reminded him.

"True, but its still not fair that we get sidelined because of this guy" Micro Ice pointed out.

Clamp shook his head. They had to do the press conferance first,before they could return to the hotel. And this one would surely be a bombardment of questions regarding D'Joks health. Clamp sent a message to Sonny, to get started, he would join as soon as they returned...

* * *

Duke Maddox stared at Sonny through the screen.

"I am sorry about what happened to your son Sonny, is he ok? " he asked.

Sonny nodded.

"He will survive and is fine under the circumstances. Duke, we got a serious problem on our hands. This is hardly the time to play enemies in this game we have had going. I believe you know the truth about matters, my hackers informed me of the latest logg on your computers. You are starting to get the picture, that someone actually has misled you and been conducting powerplays within Technoid behind your back. Two of them were dealt with in time,but it seems someone with not only the money, but also the resources and connections to pull it off, has decided to try for a galactik takeover. It must be stopped" Sonny said.

Duke Maddox nodded.

"I agree Blackbones, but first of all, this galactik resonance has to be stopped. Have you got any idea on how to pull it off? If it cant be stopped, we will no longer have a galactik football cup. And that alone has consequenses for the cup that is safely in space" he said, looking concerned.

Sonny gave him a nodd.

"I would not come forth to speak to you now unless I had some idea on how to progress. All the teams need to be notified, aggressive playing will accelerate the resonance, even strengthen it, as I can see from my sons case. The resonance may still come, but with a less aggressive play, we may be able to slow it down enough to finish the final sixteen, without lasting damage to the players. Resonance is a complex issue, with very little research ever done. Clamp and I may be the best bet to take this research on. I will do my part from the shadows for now, I need some more concrete assurance for my own safety before I would show up.I am sure you understand that our past history affects how I see things today. In regards to the resonance,I dont know yet wich team Magnus is using in this cup, Your team of cyborgs is not stored in a place where they can be tampered with. That means that all new teams from the paradisian cup needs be under surveillance. That includes the Xenons, The more data I have on how the teams has acted since the paradisian cup, the better odds I have at coming up with something to neutralize the effects" Sonny said.

Duke Maddox nodded.

"Ill see to it that its agent will provide the needed reports first thing in the morning. Anything else?" he asked.

"Yes, have an extra medical staff ready and all available personell on stand by. This resonance is only at the starting phase. I dont know wich team will be struck next. Tell all to not play hard, but team play. As far as anyone can see, The pirates are the only team not directly effected. It may be advicable to call off the entire tournament, if it effects the players health like it did my son. But untill I have more data to compare, I can not advice bringing the tournament to a halt" Sonny said.

Duke Maddox looked like he wanted to object the very idea, but on second thought,he could see Sonnys point of view.

"Were does this resonance originate from?We had the galactik football for decades, without this phenomenon ever showing before" he finally asked.

"As far as we can tell, the first case happened on Paradisia, during the tournament there, but it is not the start of things. Bleylock syphoned off flux from many players in the GF in an underground club playing Nether ball,I dont suppose you have heard of it? That is the ground zero for resonance. The flux mix made, illegal even by The flux societys standards, that became multiflux, that is what caused for the resonance to appear. The only known bad case so far, is the snow kids Rocket. That is, up till now. It seems my son may also have a bad case. How this will effect the players of each team, is yet unknown. But news footage from Paradisia, including the Sharky show, will show several players from several teams describing varying degree of symptoms" Sonny explained.

Duke Maddox normal eye narrowed.

"It didnt start with Harris then. He just picked it up and continued it. This all started with Bleylock. I am not sure how closely he watched you and Clamp, but he must have learned some of the process from you" Duke Maddox concluded.

Sonny agreed.

"Bleylocks past may hold the key to the matter altogether. I wouldnt put it past him to be experimenting with flux on the side, without me and Clamp knowing. But at the moment, we got more pressing issues to deal with. Magnus Blade set this off this time. We forced him to explain things to us, in order to stop Harris on Paradisia, wich caused the planet to explode, and making it a dead planet. Since then, Lord Phoenix, whom was his new identity, has reverted back to his old self, Magnus Blade. We know him to be a ruthless man, and not one that should have the kind of power he wants to amass. I am still trying to figure out why we, The pirates, now have a flux of our own. The aim may have been to give Technoid a fighting chance to locate us. But giving us a flux, has now strengthened the pirates as a team. It also ties in to the abduction of The galactik kids, my sons team, and two snow Kids. This is an angle we are still working to deal with. We managed to stop the progression of the virus, and Clamp will look more closely into that. What is most important now, is the resonance. If I am right, this will be a galactik resonance. So far, The Xenons, by playing aggressively, are out of the competition. Their tests show high levels of resonance as a result of their playing style. What I need Technoid to do, is send out a warning to all participating teams to change any strategy that involves playing this hard, to a more team play based one. That may slow the resonance down, rather than the oposite" Sonny explained, not letting Duke Maddox have a chance to argue.

He could tell the old man was getting worried.

"I am not going to ask where you obtained tests from the Xenons from. I know you wont tell. Are you certain of your results Sonny? As much as I hate to admit it, I know you would never put yourself in a situation to work with us, unless you had no other way to get the results you need" he said.

Sonny only nodded.

"We will meet, once I am better from the wound. I am still going to be careful around you. I have not forgotten our conversation at the hospital. And I know what facility is prepared. As do my closest men. I wont be captured by Technoid. When we meet, it will be at a time I decide." Sonny informed.

Duke Maddox nodded.

"I wish I didnt have to, but this is not a field of expertise Technoid has the most knowledge. I could force Clamp, but my guess is, you got him watched and protected. I guess I will do better cooperating than trying to locate you" he said.

Sonny nodded with a small smirk.

"Now we are on the same side here Your Excellency. Spread the word on what I found, I will send someone over with the confirmed finds of my research on this. If given proper time to test it, I will be able to deliver a more extensive report in a few days, highlighting the problems and the confirmed finds. If there are any of your scientists available to work it, let them do so in the lab. This channel can be made open to them, as a way to seek help. In due time, we will form a task force. And thank you, for cooperating on this matter, it makes it easier to get things done" Sonny said.

Duke Maddox nodded.

"In the best interest of the galaxy, I am even willing to work with the pirates to ensure that all of us stay safe. We will speak soon. Till then, be careful Sonny, this time, the galaxy needs you" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"And you" he said, before he ended the call.

Corso raised an eyebrow as he looked over at him from the panels he was checking.

"I almost got the impression you two were friends with this talk. Did this free up some crew and time? We still got one heck of a list of things to do" he said.

Sonny chuckled.

"Yes, it freed up time. Did the messenger deliver the last reports on who could be Magnus possible accomplices?" Sonny asked as he focused on some documents in front of him.

Corso nodded. The pirates had trailed all the possible suspects and had extensive video material available now. And he and Sonny would have to split this between themselves and Bennett and Artie, in an attempt to figure where to focus their resources.

He noticed Sonnys hand grab the injured area, scratching it a bit.

"How is the wound? We need you back outside the ship, the sooner the better" he asked.

Sonny smiled as he turned to Corso.

"I might have some good news for you on that one. Feeling ready for the test?" he asked.

Corso grinned.

"I am gonna make you work hard for it. If you are fit for action, we may also start to hone in more on Magnus. It would not be a good thing for the galaxy if he is allowed to become the ruler, I still remember him as a money person leader, guess thats the kind of leader he would make in the galaxy too" he said.

Sonny agreed.

"We wont let it go that far. Lets make this a bit more interesting. I will wear a full armour, and the fight is sword fight" he said.

Corso grinned as they walked towards the training room.

This was gonna be one sweaty workout...

* * *

This was so not the news he wanted to hear. D'Jok felt as if he had been handed a death sentence when Sonny explained the resonance. Rockets case was bad, but it could easily turn out, his would be just as bad.

In his mind, he went through it all again. It set in as he started to gain momentum, when he pushed himself beyond the middle point, to go high. D'Jok grabbed a small notepad and a pen on the table next to his bed and started to write down his experience. Maybe it could give his father and Clamp a better understanding of how this resonance worked.

He was interrupted by a light knock on the door. As he looked up, Mei entered with a worried look on her face.

"I wont stay for long, dont want to exhaust you. I just wanted to make sure you are all ok" she said as she sat down next to him.

D'Jok decided to act on his decision of being honest.

"Mei, for me, this could mean the end of my football career. This is all I have, all I am. I never really cared about anything else, well, at least not until you entered my life. And for once, and this is strange, I am not overly concerned about myself. I think more of other teams, some of them we know well, others, we have never faced. But after the paradisian cup, we are all in the same boat. If this could happen to me, it can happen to anyone of us that played. Just look at the Xenons" he said.

Mei nodded. This was a new side to D'Jok, one he rarely showed, even to her. If he could be this honest, then she could do no less.

"You know, I wonder if what happened to The galactik kids, Micro Ice and myself will also put an end to our careers. Sure, Sonny and Clamp did manage to eradicate the virus, hopefully that leaves the galactik kids safe. But, Micro Ice and I both played in the paradisian cup too. Micro Ice, like yourself, only used the breath, hopefully that makes him stay safe. But for myself..." she sighed.

D'Jok took her hand. He recalled the friendly against the shadows, where Mei had the smog. She didnt have to say it. Mei was worried that something she had no idea what was, had forced her into a situation where her use of multiple fluxes, could become an issue for the team, maybe even cause a resonance for her.

"It will be ok Mei, I promise. I may not know how things will work out, but trust me, it will be fine. And if it is all set to end now, at least we will all end it together, as united team. And you and I are united too, as a couple" he reminded her.

That made Mei turn to him with a smile on her face.

"I think I really start to like the romantic D'Jok Blackbones. Dont hide this side of your personality." she said.

Then, she leaned in to kiss him. In a matter of minutes, they forgot all about where they were, just surrendering to the passion that flared up between them...

* * *

Magnus checked on the progress. Having his little spies pretty much everywhere gave him a good idea where they were at with the resonance. Clearly, Harris had sucked it at full strength on Paradisa. And the destruction of his planet had led to him teaming up with Sonny and his men, just long enough to get off the planet, and get his revenge on the deceitful villain. The very fact that Sonny had trusted him, that was the one weakness the pirate chief had, being too trusting. Having Corso by his side made up for that weakness, but at the same time, it caused an obstacle for him. If he was going to stand a chance of taking control back, the answer was not the resonance, that was a part of a bigger plan, his plan to successfully restore what one deceitful Technoid employee had taken from him. The planet that was lost, and to have it prosper with flux. Since he knew the seed of shiloh could be used to heal the planet, he needed someone from the pirates that had flux. Someone that would act on emotions alone. He needed to get eyes on the pirates, at all cost. And if he was to find a pirate to extract the pure version of the seed from, he knew he needed bait. Sonny was the obvious one to go after, wwith the strongest flux. But to ask was out of the question. Sonny would never cooperate. Magnus considered using the two weakened snow kids, Mei and Micro Ice to obtain his goals, but that did not sound like a good bet. The snow kids was a team everyone knew, and to have one of them taken in broad daylight would be difficult. Due to Sonnys connections, he had been given safe passage now, to many things. Magnus knew of the rumours, that Sonny had allowed for a direct line of communication with Technoid to be set up. He would have to deal with his young protege all by himself. To the naked eye, it appeared Sonny had a ironclad defence, getting close to him would not be possible. The same went for his son. But there had to be some way...Then, a smile formed on his face. There was once way he could force Sonny to do his bidding. But he had to have a foolproof plan to pull it off. He was too close to victory now, too close to have anyone stop him. Magnus chuckled as he started to write out the details for the next step...

* * *

AN _this is becoming a cat and mouse game with high odds. And a race against the clock. It is not even sure the resonance can be reversed from the sound of things. It is all in the hands of two scientists, Sonny and Clamp, wheter this truly is going to be a case of galactik resonance, and if so, will finally an ex pirate have pulled of what Bleylock and Harris could not. Or is this all about revenge on the man that took his place, the alleged villain that is more focused on making the galaxy a safe place, rather than his own safety. Will the cup even be finished if this resonance worsens. I am building on some of the foundation laid in season 3, as resonance clearly was becoming a major threat. The story will take some time between chapters, as I try to work through kinks in the ideas I have before I write it out. If any of you have any perspectives on the resonance and the sideeffects it could have in this story, for better or worse, either pm me or review the story. I would love to hear the perspectives of others on the resonance and its impact on the story. Till next chapter, enjoy and happy reading._


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Halfway through the final sixteen. And no lead on whom Magnus had planned to use in his plan. All teams had followed the guidelines given by Technoid, and focused on team play. Whatever Magnus plan was, he was not going to be found out easily. Artie had just brought some files from Technoid to Bennett, whom would be speeding away, to make sure Technoid could not locate their hide out. Despite Duke Maddox promise, Sonny was acting careful. He was working around the clock most the time, with Clamp, with some of his skilled pirates, and lately, through a screen, with Technoid scientists, to find something that if not cured the resonance, at least slowed it down. What was getting even harder, was keeping this process out of the news. Callie Mystic had her informants, and Sonnys name had come up. Thus turning the reporters attention to the pirate chief. If there was anything more dangerous to a pirate than Technoid, it was a reporter whom seemed to have done her homework. And Artie had made sure to duck when Stevens had informed him, Callie Mystic wanted to talk to Sonny. If need be, they would arrange for security for a personal meeting. Callie was persistent, wich led to certain pirates being unable to return to The Black Manta because they were being watched. Stevens being one of them. He tried to make it hard to track him down, but with Callie Mystic, he met the wall. Like he told Artie, she should have been a pirate. The lady was smart, and well connected. Artie made his way back to the Rivet club, where he noticed said lady. How had she found her way here? Artie made himself as invisible as he could. The Rivet club was a place where Sonny and Corso would come by too, to connect with the men they needed for a mission and to gather the reports they needed. Artie noticed that Callie had set a course for the table where one lonely pirate sat with a glass of a brownish liquid. What was Corso doing here? And where was Sonny?

Then, it dawned on him. Corso was acting on behalf of Sonny. It could be Callies persistence had led to Corso having to talk to her, as the booth that served as Sonnys office, was wide open, and no one was there. In other words, Corso was here alone.

Artie kept close enough to hear Corso out, but also without drawing attention to himself.

He saw Callie approach him. This would be a show worth watching...

Callie looked at the address she had been given. This place was shabby, and was clearly a temprary set up made by the pirates. This was the kind of places you had to go to find Sonny Blackbones, or anyone that would act in his place. And the pirate with the military cap, and cybernetic eye, whom seemed to look her up and down, was just the kind of man she sought.

"Pardon me sir, I was supposed to meet someone on this address, a Corso Takashi. Would you happen to know where I can find him?" she asked politely.

Corso looked up from his drink, studying the red head reporter. On one side, he had huge admiration for her, but on the other side, her persistence was becoming a bothersome thing and drew attention to the pirates, attention that Sonny did not want. So here he was, ready to answer the questions she had, and put Sonny on through the hologram if need be, but there would be no physical meeting. Not unless it was safe for Sonny.

"You just found him Miss Mystic. The names Corso. Sonny Blackbones right hand man." he said, while notioning for her to sit down.

Callie looked around.

"Is there a place we can talk more privately? Some of my questions are kind of sensitive, and I am sure you dont want all pirates to know what happens aboard Sonny Blackbones ship" she said.

Corso nodded.

"The ship in question has a name, The Black Manta. And we can use the office space for the talk. All questions will have to be recorded. I will answer some on Sonnys behalf, for more techical questions, we will contact him" Corso said.

Callie looked disappointed.

"I was hoping to speak to Sonny" Callie tried.

Corso looked at her before he laughed.

"Missy, you are entertaining, Ill give you that. But you wont get to meet with Sonny. I got no guarantee you wont tell Technoid where he can be found. There is a price on his head, and you would not be the first to try to collect on it. Sonny is busy, so you get me, take it or leave it" Corso said.

Callie resigned.

The pirates was always careful, and Sonny more than most. It was understandable.

Callie nodded.

"Ok, here is the list of questions. If there is any of them Sonny would need to clarify, it would be wise if you called him now"...

Mei felt very stiff as she stretched this morning. They had played more calm training session these days. But it was hard to see the expression in D'Joks face. The resonance had been hard on Rocket too, it was clear to see that Rocket understood how D'Jok felt, but still, words was not his thing. He was the passer on midfield. Even Sinedd had looked compassionately at D'Jok after training. Sinedd had also experienced losing his flux altogether when playing with the shadows. He had even gone through a detox, realising just how dangerous the smog was. She had realised it when she tried to play with it. The smog made her feel as if she was choking. It was a horrible feeling. She decided to do a light stretching, to see if she could get the worst strain out of the muscles. D'Jok entered the training room, dressed in his training outfit. Mei was surprised.

"D'Jok, are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe you should rest more, until we know more about this resonance thing you and Rocket has" she suggested.

She then noticed Sonny and Clamp show up behind him, along with Rocket. Sonny too was dressed in a tracksuit.

"Mei, I wanted to ask you and Micro Ice to stay behind. The two of you were among the abductees, and this will allow for me and Clamp to gauge your strength. I dont trust Magnus Blade having told us all there is about this. So, this will be a session to test Rocket and D'Joks actual level of preformance. You and Micro Ice will be going through the same battery of tests, but at a slightly higher pace. The aim here is to collect data for comparison. We are aware that more players from the netherball sphere also has developed resonance. The aim now is to get exact numbers. As soon as that is done, I got an idea for something I want to try. The holo trainer provides a safety net to do it." Sonny explained with a smile.

Clamp nodded, slightly excited.

"When Sonny told me what he had found out, I figured the same as him. We got absolutely nothing to loose by trying. The way things head right now, we may not even get to finish this cup" he said.

That caused Mei to get a worried look in her eyes.

"How so? Are more players striken to the same level as D'Jok and Rocket?" Mei asked.

Sonny nodded.

"The degree varies, but all that participated in Netherball seems worse off than the ones striken in the paradisia cup" Sonny explained.

"So, what is the plan to counter it?" Mei asked as Micro Ice came to join them.

Clamp smiled.

"The solution is a mix of the same way we countered the virus the galactik kids has. Wich also explains the use of the holo trainer. The key to resolve it, or at least what we are going to try, based on what we read, is using Sonnys flux as a healing tool. Dame Simbai will join you inside the holo trainer, to assist Sonny with this. Sonny has already been tested, his flux is rocksolid, and strong. If this can give any benefits, we will extract a small amount of flux from Sonny afterwards, to see if we can make a cure based on that" Clamp explained.

Mei nodded. This was the best plan yet. Micro Ice was concerned though.

"When flux is extracted from a persons body, it leaves them weakened for some time right? If Technoid was to find out Sonny is here, they could capture him" Micro Ice pointed out.

Dame Simbai smiled.

"There is no need for worry Micro Ice. Sonny is completely safe. This area is a zone he can not be arrested in. As long as Sonny is inside The snow kids hotel, inside our hallway, he is safe" she said.

That made the snow kids lower their shoulders, as they took place inside the holo trainer to start the session...

Callie was thoughtful after meeting with Corso. This pirate chief, Sonny Blackbones, seemed to be a quite extraordinary man from how his men spoke of him. And Corso seemed to be suspicious of her every word, looking to see if she somehow tried to circle him in, in an attempt to hurt Sonny. Maybe she should feel offended by that, but she understood. The pirates was as close nit as you could get, hard to track down, but also, focused on keeping the galaxy safe. And with the documentation Corso had given her, without her ever getting to speak to the chief himself, she realised, they needed more background material here. But where to find it. The pirates was not exactly forthcoming with material about their past. When she returned to the station, she had to have appeared deeply thoughtful, as he boss had her come to his office.

Callie explained what kind of material she had received, but she needed someone to verify the pirates claims. Her boss rubbed his chin. Then he opened a drawer in his desk and took out a card. It was the address of a nursing home,in a poor part of Genesis. Callie studied the photo attacked to the file he also handed her. This woman had been a pirate, and wanted to get out. What had happened, no one could tell, all that was known, was that she would not share her story. And the name Magnus Blade seemed to make her eyes light up with anger.

Magnus Blade...where had she heard that name before..Callie thought it over for a second. Then she broke into a smile. It was time for her to visit with a former chief of police, before Technoid only used robots to do this task. If Magnus Blade held a key to this puzzle, she was going to help Technoid, and the pirates take him down at all cost...

All was set. His team had passed under the radar. It was uncertain now if the cup would be completed, something about the incident with The Xenons. Technoid had kept them from giving interviews so far, even the crafty Hush Sharky had not been able to get close to them. And with D'Jok now also infected with the resonance, Magnus had good reason to worry. If D'Joks health took a turn for the worse, or if Sonny figured out what was the case with Mei and Micro Ice, things they didnt even know themselves, there was nowhere in the galaxy that would ever be safe for him again. He hurt those kids, and Sonny Blackbones would come after him with all he had. Magnus knew that the closer to understanding what he had put into motion Sonny came, the less likely he was not to listen to a word he said. For Sonny, sentimental as he was, despite most people wanting to turn him in, and cash in on the bounty for his capture, Sonny still fought for them, trying to make up for a mistake he had once made. Sadly, that did not turn a profit. Magnus was no idealist. Money was power, and power only gave more power. Paradisia was forever lost, it would cost way more than he had to rebuild, perhaps after he claimed his place as ruler of the galaxy. Taxes would help him finalize his dreams. As for Sonny, he would find a way to deal with him. To seize power of the most powerful flux in the galaxy, he had to remind the pirates who gave them their flux back. The disadvantage was that his rival was the one that had the strongest flux. That made him twice as valuable. Valuable, because of his flux, and valuable, because he was wanted. Magnus checked the results. Good, His team, The pulsars would meet The pirates in the semi final. That was sure to be an explosive match...

Callie looked at the old man in front of her. He had given his all to Technoid, to the police. A human being that was burned out, but still passionate about his job.

This man had come to realise that Technoid did not always come across as being concerned for their employees. As she asked him about the strange weakness the Xenons had shown, and as the cup progressed, other teams too, all but The pirates, he paid particular attention. Callie read through the files. The pirates showed up far more often in the background of Technoid than she had expected. But the name Sonny Blackbones was not mentioned. The name Flora was named as a spy, whom specialiced in industrial espionage. She and her pirates had created problems for Technoid, since they had hacked the databases and were in there undetected. It wasnt discovered until Technoid started experiencing loss of information, files of new products. This task fell under General Bleylock to investigate. And within a few years, the spy had vanished, without a trace. In her place, stepped in a ruthless man, Magnus Blade. This pirate was behind a mask, he was more ruthless than Technoid needed to secure their research better. And for years, Magnus Blade was the leader. Until a change happened. The pirates instated a new leader, their current one. Sonny Blackbones. The file had little to no background on Sonny Blackbones. He had surfaced just months after the greta catastrophe on Akillian. As interesting this was, and the mystery he was, Callie knew this was not her story now. " How do the pirates tie in to the story of why the players are mysteriously sick, surely, you did not give me this file by accident?" she said, looking at the retired police man.

He smiled as he nodded.

"You are absolutely right. Technoid once could have solved this issue, with no need of outside help, as they do now. It all boils down to one scientist whom figured them out. He had the wits about him to leave, before they could give him the usual treatment. No one knows where he went, there are unconfirmed rumours, given Blackbones became a name with the pirates at the same time he disappeared. I cant say for sure, but Sonny Blackbones matches the missing scientist, in too many ways for it to be a coincidence" he said.

Callie nodded. With what was going on with the sick galactik football players, Technoid had clammed down the matter, no reporter, no matter what credentials, was allowed an interview. As of now, the latest was that Warren of The lightnings was also sick and in recovery on a hidden location. Technoid had managed to cover up the incident, and that struck her as odd. It was if they had help, and only certain information leaked out. Why? What was being hidden from view here? Could it be that Technoid was working with the pirates on this matter, in total secretsy? Come to think of it, once Sonny Blackbones had been arrested at the hospital, it had been the same story there. No one was allowed to see the pirate, while he received treatment. And still, Sonny Blackbones had help from his friends, and managed a spectacular escape, put in motion by his men. And when she thought of it, one of the snow kids had looked close to relieved when asked about the pirate chief. She shook her head. This would be a story for another time.

"How does this play in with the sick players?" she asked.

The policeman now had a smirk on his face.

"I would have figured you for smarter than this. Surely you see the connection here. If Sonny Blackbones is the missing scientist that managed to escape Technoid without getting his memories erased, he is also the one that can best aide this situation. The scientist I speak of had a spectacular track record. I never heard of a junior becoming professor as fast as he did. He specialized in flux related matters. " he said and handed Callie an old file.

Callie looked curious at it. As she opened it, she found several pictures inside. A woman, whom was believed diseased, by the name of Flora, and pictures of a younger, blonde man that carried deep resemblance to Sonny. Callie looked closer at the image. The old policeman nodded.

"Thats Sonny Blackbones,I am sure of it, before he became a pirate. A real ace. His education is impressive, considering his young age at the time. Sadly, the envy, and power plays within Technoid put an end to his career. If anyone has the know how to solve this, its him" the policeman said.

Callie stared at the photo. Somehow, she needed to get an interview with Sonny Blackbones. And he would not be easy to find.

"The pirates are a bit protective these days. I was allowed to meet with Corso. Wherever Sonny is hiding, Corso made it clear, I will only speak to him if and when it becomes necessary" she said.

The police man nodded that.

"We will hear from him in due time. This phenomenon that has struck so many players till now, is not a natural occurrence. Something caused this, and it is within the field of expertise Sonny is educated in. Pirate or not, he hasnt lost the touch with science. With this, and the threat a resurfaced Magnus Blade poses, we need Sonnys expertise to deal with the matter, if he cant solve this, football as we know it will seize to exist, and the galaxy may again fall into galactik war" he said.

Callie was silent as she heard that. It became even more crucial now to find out wich team Magnus Blade was using in the cup. Callie started to send out requests to her informants, before she called the number Corso had given her. She would have to do her part in saving the galaxy...

Mei had increased slowly the speed and intensity she kicked the ball with. Dame Simbai kept a close eye on her and Micro Ices health as they were pushing harder and harder with the drills. Meanwhile, Sonny had looked through the manual she had handed him. In a sense, he was not here to act as a player this time. For lack of a better description, his position was the same as Dame Simbais, a doctor in a sense, though she prefered the word healer. Now, he was going to tend to D'Jok and Rocket. The two players looked at him with hope in their eyes. This was not how they wanted to end their careers. Dame Simbai lightly touched Sonnys arm.

"Sonny, dont hesitate. Your flux does have this ability, the effect will be according to your intention. Try to clear your mind, and Ill lead you through the process" she said.

Sonny just nodded. The pressure felt immense. He was the leader of the pirates, he was used to handle situations like this. Except, if he got this wrong, he could end up harming his son and his team mate. That was the real worry. He was out of his depth. Sonny then removed the inhibitor bracelet from his wrist. He could feel the flux build up within his body. It was flowing through all of him, growing stronger as it picked up momentum. Maybe the inhibitors werent such a good idea after all, if they could cause the flux to become too strong when it was used...

Dame Simbai seemed to sense what was going on in his mind. The minute she touched his arm, Sonny felt like his flux surge calmed. Then it struck him. Dame Simbai was not just an agent for the flux society. She was a flux master. That meant she knew how all the fluxes worked, and she was the best possible help he could have with what he was about to do.

"I am ready Dame Simbai, lets start with Rocket" he said.

Dame Simbai smiled calmly, as she started to guide Sonny on the process his flux could be used to heal others...

Clamp had kept an eye out inside the holo trainer. Sonny seemed to get a hold of this, with Dame Simbais help, maybe the two of them could develop a cure for the resonance. The results was encouraging.

Clamp felt a need to head to the bathroom. Sonny and he had plans to work through the night if need be, after the extraction was completed. For once, one of his inventions, on Bleylocks orders, served the forces of good. Clamp put the system in a mode where Sonny and the others could exit at will from inside, as he headed to the bathroom.

Strange, no light. He was going to make a complaint to the hotel. That was when he heard a sound behind him. A buzzing, as if a machine or a robot was there.

Clamp felt sweat drip down his back. Old memories of General Bleylock rose to the surface, as he looked around.

There was a mechanical creature behind him, and another creature, with the nastiest fangs he had ever seen.

"No...it cant be" he whispered...

It was silent as they exited the holo trainer. Dame Simbai had stored all the results in her portable laptop. Mei and Micro Ice were not too happy about the extra rest time that was forced on them. They were young people, they wanted to explore the new things Genesis offered, and Dame Simbai had put a stop to their expeditions,by forcing them to take a rest. For D'Jok and Rocket, the rest was needed. D'Jok had managed to free himself of some of the heaviness in his limbs during this session, but Dame Simbai still demanded he use the mechanical massagers to help improve circulation. Rocket also felt like he had received a boost from Sonnys healing work. Dame Simbai said to keep a close eye on the two of them, to see if Sonnys flux had any effect on their situation. Finally, Dame Simbai also looked at the pirate chief himself. Sonnys stats remained good, it was like the use of his flux had not really effected him at all. But as a flux master, she knew such could be deceitful. Even if Sonny felt fine now, there was the chance he had drained himself more than he should. But a quick check up would let her know for sure.

"Sonny, I want to do a check up on you. This is a kind of work you have never done with your flux before. And it can be far more draining than you expect. If this demanded too much, you must rest a day or two before we can do the extraction" she said.

Sonny nodded it silently. He kept an eye on his son. It seemed to have worked like he hoped for, but he could not say for sure. At the moment, D'Jok and Rocket seemed stronger than before.

Dame Simbai opened the holo trainer so they could exit.

"Where is Clamp? I thought he was the only one that could open the holo trainer" said Rocket as he looked around.

Sonny looked around. Clamp had left all systems running, that meant something like a bathroom run, nothing major.

"He is nearby, give it a few minutes, he will come back" he said.

Dame Simbai nodded. She wanted to check Sonny as soon as she could, to make sure he was they entered her clinic, she had to run the normal tests, and found Sonny was fine. He handled the balancing of the flux fine.

She took the necessary samples from Sonny, and nodded to him as she was done and secured the tests in portable tubes.

"Now, to get these to Clamp for analysis" she said as she made the tubes ready.

Sonny nodded as he rose.

"Allow me, I am headed over there anyway. This will probably last through the night" he said.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"I will need for you to contact Brim Balarius, your flux needs be accessed and the training for full mastery must commence" she said.

Sonny nodded.

"Talk to Corso. He will let you have a copy of my schedule" Sonny said as he took the tubes and left for Clamps lab...

Something definately felt off for Sonny. Clamps workroom was located far off in the hallway, and the lights dimmed. There was a time he liked things being like this, because it made it easier to sneak around undetected. The problem now was, it also hid any enemy. Sonny could not explain why, but the closer he came to the room, the more the hairs stood up on his back. This was not a good sign. Sonny activated his signal, to have Corso alert for danger. Then, he drew his vapour laser. Better safe than sorry. Sonny silently opened the door and entered the room.

It was dark, and the computer system seemed undisturbed. Odd, he would have thought Clamp was here. Something told Sonny to move carefully. His eyes slowly got used to the dim light. Soon he could see a few silhouettes in the room. Sonny made his way over to the secure mini lab and locked the samples in. Now he could move more freely.

As he moved forwards, his foot bumped into something. Something soft, almost like...

Sonny bent down, and at the same time, he uttered a work in ancient shiloh. The code word would set off alarms on The Black Manta, getting assistance here in no time.

Then, he crouched down. It was a human being lying on the floor. Clamp. And he was out cold. As soon as Sonny found the light switch, he lid up the room.

He gasped. There was a mark on Clamps neck, and Sonny did not have to travel too far back to realise that he had experienced this too. But this could not be. They werent on friendly terms with Magnus,and had no good reason to attack Clamp. They would also be dead.

As soon as he heard steps behind him, Sonny rose, and lifted the unconscious Clamp.

"Do a full sweep of the room, then the hallway. And be careful. Whomever the enemy is, is dangerous" he said.

Corso had reached him and noticed the marks on Clamps neck.

"This cant be.." he whispered.

Sonny nodded.

"Call Dame Simbai. Clamp needs medical attention. And an antidote" he said.

Corso nodded.

"Sonny, we dont have any antidote for were lucky you survived on Paradisia. For Clamp, I dont know what we can do" he said.

Sonny nodded. For some reason, he knew this would end well, they already had the antidote.

"Now Magnus made his first big mistake Corso. And more will follow, until we can take him down. Never thought I would feel good about delivering a villain into the hands of Technoid, but there is always a first for everything" he said.

Corso looked confused.

"We got the antidote already Corso, cause Magnus had me injected with it on Paradisia. Its in my blood stream. Take a sample and develop an antidote from that. Magnus thinks he has the upper hand. And he just lost that advantage" Sonny explained as they walked towards Dame Simbais clinic with Clamp.

"How so Sonny, I am afraid you lost me" Corso said.

Sonny smirked.

"The mark of Clamps neck. Magnus just told us who his team is. Prepare for a take down as soon as I can have their identity confirmed. After that, we will bring in Magnus. It is time we, the pirates that want to keep the galaxy safe, face off against the pirates that want to enslave it"...


	24. Chapter 24

Clamp remained motionless on the examination bench as Dame Simbai examined him. Sonny had made a special tool ready, one that would allow them to identify the mark on Clamps neck. Clearly, he and Clamp had come too close to the truth for Magnus liking. And what happened to Clamp was to be taken as a warning. Magnus would know, if this was the same toxin used as on Paradisia, by giving him the antidote, a small bloodsample from him was all that was needed to counter the venom. But first, he needed more information on what they were dealing with.

"How is he Dame Simbai? Are you able to identify the venom used?" Sonny asked as he put on some protective gloves to assist her if need be.

Dame Simbai looked at him.

"Yes Sonny. It is not from Paradisia this time, wich is a good thing. That venom was particularly strong. I was not sure my remedies could slow it down either, all I remember was that you were in a very serious condition when Artie and Bennett arrived with you. You would not have made it, unless someone intervened. But this is a lot milder. I studied more the plants on Paradisia after the explosion. To make an anti venom based on plants that only grows on a dead planet, is hard, even for a skilled herbalist like me. This venom is far more common, although it may be hard to find the right plants to make an antidote" she said.

Corso nodded as he looked at the chart.

"Some of these plants that is used to create this venom is hard to come by. Not because of the price, they are fairly common, but because of their accessability. However, I scanned it into my transmitter. Seems I got some remedies for this, good thing I kept all the things my mother taught me in a safe place. I only have one or two plants missing to make an antidote. The plants may be hard to find, but may be sold on an illegal market here on Genesis" he said.

Dame Simbai looked at him. She was getting used to the very idea that the pirates actually had a herbologist among them. Corso struck her more as a soldier than the type to be working with herbs. It seemed the pirates indeed had a lot more secrets to them than they were ready to admit.

"Maybe I got the needed plants Corso, wich ones are they? You can always have a look around in my herb garden" she offered.

Corso grinned as he heard that. He could like a lady that spoke the same language as him when it came to herbs and plants to be used for food or medicine. Sometimes, the best medicine made, was that of the nature itself.

Sonny didnt pay much attention to Dame Simbais and Corsos discussion on what plants would be most effective in dealing with the venom. Corso cautioned Dame Simbai that Clamp now had two known cases of poisoning to his meritt, and they needed to make sure the antidote did not cause more pain and discomfort to the old man than it already had. When it came to herbs and medicine,this was their field of expertise. Sure, due to his education, he knew the basics of herbal rememdies, but he had never delwed deeper into it. Maybe he should take some classes with Corso on the matter once this was over. Something told him herbal medicine could be a way to go to deal with the resonance issue as well. He looked at Clamp whom remained unconscious on the examination bench. Memories from when Bleylock had poisoned him, the rushed decision to get the antidote from Bleylocks office, a risky move on their part,with only minutes to spare, the injection into a vein in Clamps neck, the nerve breaking moments, waiting, to see if it would work. It all flashed before his inner eye. Clamp had made it, but Sonny had asked Dame Simbai to discretely send him the report on Clamps health couldnt stay, that was too risky, but he could and would keep an eye out from the shadows. He knew Bleylocks taste for using poisons to leave no witnesses to his crimes, and how he would also use it to subdue his victims. He had experienced it a few times himself, and it was not a situation he wanted to relive.

He focused on the mark at Clamps neck. Not a bite, good for him. But whatever weapon had this distinct pattern to it, would give away its owner. It was too distinct to be a random case. That was when he noticed that Clamp had something in his hand. Sonny gently loosened his fingers enough to slide the fabric out of Clamps hand. It was a piece of fabric from what looked like a uniform. The colours also told a tale of what teams needed be looked at closer. Only one team he could recall had those colours in their uniform. It was a dead giveaway to the team that used it. It even had a portion of the teams logo on it. No surprise. Magnus could not manipulate just any team into working for him. So he chose an unknown one, one the galaxys eyes would not be on. A supposed underdog team. The irony being that not long ago, The pirates themselves was an underdog team was not lost. Due to the increased resonance in all teams during the final sixteen, The pirates had qualified for the final by their win against The lightnings in the semi final. The next semi final was The snow Kids versus The Pulsars. Magnus new team. And that, posed a threat to the kids that he would do anything in his power to elimminate.

The snow kids did feel the resonance like all other teams, during the final sixteen, the resonance had spread, affecting more and more players. Duke Maddox had expressed increasing worries about the progression as the hospitals filled up with striken players in need of care. Dame Simbai and The flux society had also grown increasingly worried, and were looking to the pirates for answers, answers he and Clamp did not yet fully have. This was pioneering work on their end. But despite all that had happened, and seeing horrifying images of collapsing players from all teams, The Snow Kids had all but given up. But They were maybe not as entusiastic as before. And with their declining health, Sonny understood why they would not be motivated. The resonance was strong in everyone, and sadly, he was not able to help everyone yet. Coming out of hiding and offer to use his flux to help, would only alert Duke Maddox to his whereabouts. And Corso had made it crystal clear what he thought of any physical meeting. But now, he had a name to Magnus allies. And a new challenge rose as a result. Sonny could hear Corso return from the walk in Dame Simbais garden, with two herbs he needed for his concoction.

"Corso, put every available man on getting as much information as you can on the team known as The Pulsars. The snow kids face off against them in two days. That is the window we have to figure out Magnus plan." Sonny said, holding up the piece of fabric Clamp had torn from a suit.

Maybe, if they had any luck, they could even locate the player that hurt Clamp.

Corso grinned.

"The Pulsars eh. At least that is some good news. Their planet is possible to access if need be. Unlike Paradisia. I will start prepping something for Clamp right away. He will feel better in no time" Corso promised.

As he wandered off to get the recipies,and put the pirates to work, Dame Simbai looked at Sonny. He appeared to be in deep thought.

"I cant wait much longer. Magnus has to be stopped. He has something prepared to use against the snow kids, to assure The pulsars face off against the pirates in the whole thing feels rigged. This final will be unusual. The goal is the cup. For the pulsars, Magnus weapon of choise is their flux,. Set to destroy the cup, and thus destabilize the galaxy, or us, to preserve it. Same game Bleylock once played at and then Harris. " Sonny said, as he kept a close eye on Dame Simbai.

She looked at the fabric he held in his hand,

"Should I alert The Flux society to what is going on with The Pulsars?"she asked, looking at the pirate chief that seemed to try to formulate a battle plan.

"yes, meanwhile, the snow kids need to prepare for this semi final. I am not at all sure they are strong enough to win it this time. Rocket and D'Jok are the teams clear weak links at this point. But they have to hang in there. If Mark and Sinedd take their places, and they are left to rest, it may work..." Sonny mused.

Dame Simbai nodded.

"I will notify Brim Balarius, will you stay with Clamp till Corso returns?" she asked.

Sonny said nothing, just nodded. As Dame Simbai left the room, Sonny sat down beside Clamps bed. He looked at his long time friend. What could be the purpose behind attacking Clamp? Surely Magnus knew this would not stop him. Sonny briefly thought the thought of a provocation. And the more he thought of it, the more it became clear to him what this was about. Him claiming the title of leader from him. It had all been an act when they spoke of it on Paradisia. But then, Magnus acted overbearing with it all, because he knew already that Harris and Vega had put him in a corner. He had acted nice, because he needed the pirates help. That was why he had provided him with the antidote. If he had died because of the poison, the pirates would have gone after him, to avenge Sonny. But why not tell about the scale of Harris operation? How much did Magnus know? Sonny suspected Magnus may not at all have been as innocent and naive as he had tried to make it seem. That made him search his mind deeper. Off course. Magnus had been grateful for the rescue, but he had also clearly missed life as a pirate. Had he known about his son from the get go? Was that why D'Jok now was struck with the resonance? The snow kids... Three time back to back champions. They were already legends at their young age. But with the resonance that now seemed to seep into all participating teams, Sonny was not sure they would be up to the task of defeating the pulsars. He had sent out men to try to track this team down, but it seemed hard. The pulsars had hidden well, and still there was no sign of them in training anywhere. But from the information he had already secured, they did not seem all that affected by the resonance. Their flux, a sonic pulse, would be tough for the snow kids to get through, even worse now that they had to limit their use of the breath. The Pulsars could be the team that eliminated the champions from the cup.

Sonny forced himself back to reality. The snow kids seemed to have already accepted that a fourth win would be asking too much. It would not be good for their egoes either. They had to get used to the idea of loosing the semi finals. Especially if The Pulsars came out as a stronger team. And if The Pulsars advanced to the finals, it meant that The pirates would face them, in fighting for the victory for the cup. They were the only team not affected by resonance if you used biology as a measurement. Technoids new team was cyborgs, wich made it not count. Sonny knew that he had to have his team prepare for a match that would be even, but first, they had to get the snow kids through theirs. And first of all, Clamp needed treatment. Sonny looked up as Corso entered the clinic with a syringe.

He had a plan ready for how to create a smokescreen Magnus had not prepared for. But first, Clamp.

He nodded to Corso, whom put on some gloves, and started the injection of his creative little mix...

* * *

It had taken forever to find the information she sought. The Pulsars, whom would have thought an unknown and unproven team like them, had ties to a former pirate, and possibly was going to use this mysterious weakness that had shown in the teams over the last weeks, as a way to get to the finals. Well, if they could defeat the snow kids that was.

Callie was an avid Snow kids fan, being from Akillian herself. As a reporter, she was supposed to be neutral, but often, she forgot that part. But her contacts had allowed her access to information that no reporter should ever have seen. She was no scientist, but these papers, and the gauges, maybe it made no sense to her, but a scientist, like the two old flux specialists, professor Labnor and Professor I'Son, two names that had mysteriously vanished from history at the same time as the great catastrophe had hit Akillian, would have known what it meant. If they were still alive, maybe she could ask Corso and the pirates for help to track them down, see if they could clue her into things. That was why Callie had asked for a new meeting with the right hand man of the pirates. She was sipping some coffee at a nice corner store when his shadow fell upon her. Clearly, he was not afraid of being seen. Well, pirates had their ways she guessed.

"You came across some papers, that you needed help with?" he asked as he sat down.

How rude! Not even asking her permission to sit down.

"Not wasting any time for pleasantries I see. Yes, I came across two names that may be able to help crack this wide open" Callie said.

Corso nodded.

"Show me what you got Missy, and I will consider bringing it forth to Sonny" he said.

Callie handed him the papers, and also, the photo of the two scientists. Corso could not help but smirk when he saw it.

" You dont know wheter they are alive, or if they are under new identities. I will let Sonny decide wheter to delwe deeper into this or not" he said.

It wasnt a question, as much as a statement.

Callie nodded. Corso decided to be nice for once. Callie had taken some risks getting this information. No need for him to be an asshole about things. he could at least give her some harmless information.

"They are both alive, but for safety purposes, it is better you not know what new names they go under now. I will make contact with them both. I am sure they will look at the material, as soon as I know anything, I will get back to you" Corso said as he got up, clearly preparing to leave.

"There is more. Your former leader Magnus Blade, had a connection to a member on the football Team, The pulsars. This team dont seem to have the same weakness as a lot of other teams that participated in the cup on Paradisia. I managed to get some exclusive footage of the team, and a short interview with the team captain, you may find some of the claims they made about Blade and his connection to them, interesting" she said.

That made Corso close in. Very close.

"Tell me all you know about Magnus Blade and his connection with The Pulsars"...

* * *

The snow kids had their last training session before the semi finals against the pulsars. To say that the mood was tense was an understatement. All the snow kids by now had varying degrees of resonance, and it was an outright frightening experience for them. They were so used to going on full speed, and now,doing so, could potentially be harmful to them. And Rocket and D'Jok were sidelined. The snow kids was determined to do their best, but the information that Corso had gotten from Callie Mystic, how he had any contact with her, none of them wanted to know, it had to be a pirate related matter, had shown that The pulsars was an oponent not to be taken lightly. Their sonic pulse was a strong flux, and despite their playing style looking aggressive, it seemed the pulsars was not as affected by the resonance as the other teams. D'Jok had gone to see Warren and many of the members of the lightnings team, while Tia had gone to The Wambas. The other snow kids had also gone to see the other striken teams. And when they returned, Sonny had them all sit down and give an update. It was looking grim. Most players were severely weakened. They hoped to recover in the off season. Sonny knew, he and Clamp had lots of work ahead of them. It would look eerily similar to the meta flux in one way, only, this time, they would not be creating a weapon, they would be making a cure for the resonance. With the data he now had, Sonny knew they had to build things from the bottom up. This had never been done before, just as creating a synthetic flux had never been done before, when he and clamp took it on. But this time, their work would serve the galaxy, and help restore, not point a weapon of unknown strength at it. A part of him looked forwards to the process. Another side, the ever cautious pirate, told him to be careful, and not reveal to Technoid where he was hiding. He could work with Duke Maddox just fine, but for as long as there was a price on his head, he did not have all that much wiggle room. Being wanted for 5 million standard units, made life exciting in one way, but it got old. He had it his way, that would sometime have to come to an end, not just for him, for all of them. Every pirates wet dream.

Sonny had shown up at practice with the snow kids, to get an over view on their current state regarding the resonance. He could tell D'Jok was none too happy with being sidelined along with Rocket, but his health was more important than his ego.

As soon as Sonny had all the data, he gave a quick suggestion to Rocket for a team play that would work to confuse the pulsars, at least momentarily. Maximum two onsets of the flux per player, to make sure no one else got severely sick. One onset per half. After that, Sonny retreated to the pirates lair where he and Corso prepared for the oncoming match...

* * *

This was it. The semi finals, for the fourth time. By now, they were so used to it, it was almost as if they expected to get to this point. D'Jok looked at the pitch from the coaches pod. This was not what he wanted, but at least, he shared fate with Rocket. The snow kids tried to put on a show, but it was clear, they knew they stood a good chance of getting defeated this time. Dame Simbai had done all in her power to boost them before the match. Corso had come by, with a small bracelet for each player. They were asked to activate it on the pitch. The pirates did not tell what it would do, only that this was the best kind of protection they could offer at this point.

As the snow kids lined up, They heard a knock on the door to the coaches pod. Dame Simbai opened it. It was Callie Mystic. She wanted a statement from Rocket. As soon as she had that, and also from D'Jok, she focused on the match that was about to start.

Dame Simbai and Clamp took their seats, along with Rocket and D'Jok. Time to get the show on the road...

* * *

Magnus grinned as he looked at the snow kids. This would be their day to be sent out as the loosers. And as soon as that was taken care of, The pulsars needed to defeat Sonnys pirates in the final. With their flux in the cup, he would hold all power in the galaxy for at least 4 years. And so much longer. But first, he needed his team to take that cup,and fill it with their flux. As soon as he had all fluxes under control, he could start the process of claiming the title emperor. And there was no way Sonny could foil his plan now. To weaken all players in the paradisian tournament had not been his original thought, but it sure helped matters now. With great teams like The Xenons, the lightnings and even the three times champions, the historic Snow kids weakened, he could use this final as his chance to pose the challenge Sonny had to know was coming. There could only be one leader of the pirates, though they had prospered under his reign, it was time for Sonny Blackbones to step down and let him have his rightful spot back. The pirates would be pardoned as one of his first acts as emperor, something Sonny was not in a position to do. Not now, nor ever. He wasnt going to kill him, that would not go down well with the pirates. He had successfully managed to do so with past leaders, and those that had found out by mistake or bore witness, had their mind wiped of any recollection of what they had seen. There was times he wondered if Sonnys son D'Jok had suffered any consequenses from their little memory erasure. It wasnt likely. Sonny would have figured that out by now, and if nothing else in this galaxy fueled his rage,put a hand on his son sure would. And though Sonny had been reckless in the past, Magnus had a feeling Sonny had learned to tame the rage over the years, with Corso by his side, he was sure to have learned how to turn that anger into cunning and calculated moves. He knew what Corso was capable of. He had taken a chance by letting this rouge soldier stay on, but Corso was silent, and never seemed to care much for anyone or anything, until Sonny joined them. If he had to get rid of Sonny, he would have to do the same with Corso and anyone that would stand by Sonny. Now, he turned his attention to the semi finals, this would either make or break his plan, but he felt comfortable, they would advance...

* * *

"Its not looking good Sonny. The Snow Kids seem to lack rythm and they have no confidence without their flux. I am counting 68% of shots on goal in favour of the Pulsars. We are lucky they have not scored three times already, that would break them" Clamp reported through his transmitter.

Sonnys hologram had an expression that was carved in stone and did not reveal what he was thinking.

"Dame Simbai, how are their health stats?" Corso asked where he sat next to Sonny in the bleachers, as Sonny used a pair of binoculars to get a better view of the pulsars and their play style.

The documents Corso had brought him from Callie earlier in the day had sowed the seed to a plan for Sonny. They had much support, if not outspoken, but still support in the fact that they were not ratted out to Technoid, but in the long run, it would not get them to the ultimate goal he had set for himself and the pirates when he took seat.

Their freedom, whatever form they could get it, was becoming a matter that demanded he started taking actions. But in order to do so, he needed an ally on the inside of the media, someone that could actually be supporting their cause. He didnt question his sixth sense on this. That ally he sought was Callie Mystic. The lady had brains, and she had shown skills that impressed even him. If he was to tell the pirates side of the story, it would take caution. If he did not act first, Callie Mystic would find their hide out eventually. She had managed to track down Stevens, wich was normally hard to do. If he could find a way to set the parameters, then maybe this could swing in their favour. He just had to give it some more thought, consider every angle.

"All are fine, but they just dont have it in them today, they may loose this one" Dame Simbai reported.

Sonny nodded.

"They are not used to play with limited use of the flux. The pulsars are still going strong. And they seem powerless to stop it. Even with team play. How much time left till half time?" Sonny asked.

"About 10 minutes. Should we let them use the breath now, or urge them to wait until the second half?" Clamp asked.

Sonny only gave it a moments thought.

"Hold off till the second half. And tell Rocket to prepare for the toughest motivational speech he has ever given. This can still turn around. Keep the score at nil nil and aim to get a quick goal in the second half. Whatever happens, you cant let it go into overtime. The snow kids wont be able to handle it" he said.

As soon as the transmission ended, Sonny turned to Corso.

"I didnt want to say it while D'Jok and Rocket could hear it, but they are outmatched in more ways than one. Magnus has found a way to shield his Pulsars from the effect of the resonance. I find that odd. All other teams are affected,but not them" Sonny mused.

Corso nodded.

"You would almost think its a cyborg team again, but that would not be like him. He would not use the same trick twice. The pulsars are probably just as human as you and I. But they have managed to stay on their feets. And they dont even seem to break a sweat" Corso commented dryly.

Sonny nodded. And he already had an idea as to what they were dealing with.

"They may be using a form of undetectable drug from their home planet. I sent a team stationed on a nearby moon, to do some digging. They found an interesting piece of information. Their planet is Magnus home planet" Sonny said.

Corso looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Then he and his family must have been settlers. The Pulsars look nothing like ..no that cant be. The pirates would have found out" he said.

Sonny nodded with a grin. He had expected the question.

"He is wearing an exon skeleton. What we have always seen is just a hologram projection, only he managed to somehow find a way to make it into a hard form we can touch. He must have gone under the radar for some time in the lair, to hide." Sonny explained.

Corso seemed to get it.

"The mask he wore.. It was a part of a disguise, I wonder what hid behind it" he said.

Sonny nodded.

"And when he had his appearance changed, after his eye was blinded, he had a mask made to fit on top. We never really saw how Magnus really looks like, ever. But if we look at the pulsars, not nearly as tall as he stands when with us, his disguise makes up for a lot of things he feels inferior in. I wonder how he did that. But this knowledge can swing in our favour, as he doesnt know what we know" Sonny said.

Corso rubbed his chin.

"It is always those that feel inferior that seeks power and control over others. But now that we know this Sonny, how are we going to use it?Magnus will expect a move on our end" Corso wondered.

Sonny smiled.

"The outcome of this match will determine our next step Corso. If the snow kids turn it around and win, The pirates face them in the final, and we will have a peaceful flux filling the cup at the end. If the snow kids loose, it comes down to us, the pirates, to save the galaxy from falling into a permanent and lasting resonance, and Magnus to become the galactik emperor he wants to become" Sonny stated.

Corso nodded, but he had a worried look in his normal eye.

"One more thing Sonny. No matter who wins the final, the pirates as a team are exposed when they will seek the cup. But I dont think Magnus will stop Maddox will attempt an arrest" he said.

Sonny nodded. He knew exactly what Corso was getting at.

"We got immunity on the pitch and the locker rooms. At least for the team. You and I are a different story. We both know what is coming Corso. I will have to be ready, no matter cant let Magnus win" Sonny said.

Corso nodded.

"You have to be more than ready Sonny. You have to be in the right mindset and physically ready to do battle with him. Magnus wont back down. He wants his title as leader of the pirates back, thats why he gave us back our flux. And if you loose the battle Sonny, I dont know wheter he will let you live. We cant prove it, but I always suspected he had something to do with Floras disappearance. And Carole may have been an unsuspecting witness to his crime" Corso said.

Sonny nodded, and turned back to the game as the second half was about to start.

What Corso said weighed heavily on his mind. And he was worried, since this had also been done to D'Jok. His son had bore witness to something, something that could possibly bring Magnus to his knees. Did D'Jok somehow know this, or was it all a blurr in his mind. But if D'Jok knew and came to remember, that put his son in mortal danger from Magnus. And that was one thought that made Sonny clench his fist to the point that they turned white.

No harm was gonna come to his son or his team, he would give his last breath to stop that from happening if he had to...

* * *

_getting really exciting here. And at this point, I am planning to only use two more chapters to wrap this story up. the same lenght a season woulf have. Who the pulsars are and their flux, and also, their connection to Magnus Blade will be explained in the next chapters. Lets say that is may be very different from what many may have thought them to look like. And the inevitable battle for the leadership of the pirates will be just as exiting. Will Sonny still remain the leader of the pirates or is his time up. And what about DJok, and the snow kids, and all the other teams and their now onset of resonance. The resonance will be further addressed in a soon to start fic. The first chapter is in for beta reading now. It may take some time to get things started, but will be worth while. Would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far. For those calling for a Mei And DJok romance, that really isnt my thing. To be honest, I suck at writing stories like that. So maybe a separae story later on, I dont know yet. But they will be part of the next fic too, I promise. Bonus for the Micro Ice lovers, so will he. And we may see our dear Mice really shine. Got anything you want to say, please leave a revirew or a pm to let me know your thoughts._


	25. Chapter 25

The Second half was about to start. D'Jok wasnt sure he would be allowed playing time at all, since he was still a bit weak, but it did not take a genius to see that all the snow kids was struggling. They were so used to playing hard and with their flux that doing the oposite felt very unnatural to them. And they had struggled all the first half to even get into rythm. It did not help that The Pulsars was running circles around them. And their sonic pulse seeemed impossible to get past. The snow kids were trying, but they were stopped again and again when they ran into it. The Pulsars appeared no affected by resonance today. They did not even break a sweat and did not seem affected by the resonance at all. But he could have sworn he had seen them somewhere before, if only he could remember where... There..D'Jok felt like a pounding headache attacked him head on, as if a memory of something he was not supposed to know, came to the surface. The very nightmare he had told his father and Corso about when on Shiloh. This distorted image of what looked like The akillian Mountains, Mount Tustra to be exact. Now it was like he got a clearer image of it all. It wasnt Mount Tustra, this place had a different topography. But still icy and cold. Where could that place be, he had never been here before. D'Jok tried to focus, to let it all go, but it seemed to hold him in a firm grip. Like he was floating, being brought here by unknown forces. D'Jok used a breathing technique Corso had thought him, to calm himself. As Rocket continued his speech, D'Jok smiled.

His father had been right. The memory would resurface in the right time. And that time proved to be now. Who cared if they won the semi finals or not. They had won three times in a row. what more did they have to prove, nothin to themselves, nor to the galaxy. Maybe their lesson now was to loose, to be stars no matter what came after, even a loss. But he had to speak to hisfather. He had just discovered Lord Phoenix, Magnus Blades true identity, and The Pulsars single weakness. The galaxy would never fall into the hands of such a mean species.

Rocket noticed D'Joks grin.

"Are you feeling up for a second half on the pitch D'Jok? The Snow kids could do with a moral boost" Rocket said.

D'Jok smiled. He was all ready to put in his last drop of energy for The snow kids surely exit from the galactik football cup. This would not be their tournament. For the final, they would be cheering on The pirates, motivating them to give it their all. This was their year.

"I am ready Rocket. If this is the end team, lets give our fans a show worth remembering" he said.

As the team made ready to go back on the pitch, Sinedd smiled.

"Go Snow,Go"..

* * *

Clearly, the snow kids had a pep talk during half time break, and D'Jok seemed ready to make the second half one that was on fire.

Sonny had to admire his son, whom rushed forwards. But what surprised him, was to see that D'Jok seemed to know of a weakness The Pulsars had. This was a weakness the pulsars covered up with their game play. To someone not knowing, they would look damn near unbeatable. But how could D'Jok know this. Sonny realised he couldnt know, unless he had seen it with his own eyes. And it dawned on him. The landscape D'Jok had described to him and Corso while under hypnosis...it wasnt Akillian, nor was it Mount Tustra. He had never been to this place.

It was the Pulsars home planet, a planet to the east of Akillian, but not icy as the result of a catastrophe,this planet was naturally this way due to its location far from the sun. And now the pieces of what D'Jok explained started to fall into place for Sonny. Despite their efforts, the snow kids did not seem focused on winning. It didnt take too long to realise that this was the champions putting on one last show for their fans, as they had no plan to win this time. And when The pulsars found the net behind Ahito, it was almost as if you could feel a sigh of relief from the snow kids. When the match was over, The snow kids would follow the same suit as the lightnings, The pirates,all the other former great champions. They would greet their fans as the stars that they were. Corso looked at Sonny as they made ready to leave.

"Is it just me, or did you get the impression they lost on purpose?"he asked Sonny.

Sonny nodded. It was an emotional moment for him as a father to see his sons team loose and take the loss as real stars.

"They lost on purpose Corso. The snow kids knew, after the first half, they did not want to play in the finals this time. They wanted their winning streak to end at three. Pawing way for someone new to pick up their mantle. And in doing so, they passed this on to us, The pirates" Sonny said.

Corso nodded. It made sense. The pirates was the only team he could see being strong enough to take the pulsars on.

"Have you got a strategy ready for the final, now that we know who we are facing?" he asked.

Sonnyn nodded slowly. he had also made a call he knew Corso would not at all. It was a conciderable risk, to himself more than anyone, but he needed to get the upper hand. And the best way, was for him to choose the arena to draw Magnus too. If it came to a physical fight, The pitch of Genesis stadium was their best bet.

"Corso, player X will be captain for the finals match"he said.

"What? Are you out of your mind? You plan to turn yourself over to Duke Maddox giftwrapped too? Genesis stadium will be crawling with Technoid droids for this match, and you plan to serve yourself on a platter?"Corso growled, clearly looking for ways to opose this plan.

"It is the best way to draw Magnus out of hiding" Sonny tried, but Corso wasnt hearing it.

"Forget it, this is insanity" he said.

Sonny shook his head.

"Its the only way to draw him out" he said.

Corso sighed.

"Fine, but in one condition Sonny. I will train you for battle against a member of the pulsars. So far, he has used human methods, but this time, he may resort to tricks he thinks we know nothing about. The pulsars are not about strength, not even weapons. They use their flux, against the flux societys rules, because they found a way to mask the use. But they did not count on an ex military soldier from the chissian elite forces to know this. For now, that is our secret weapon. But you will need a special armour under the uniform. Once we get back to the Black Manta, I will start fabricating it. Till its time, you will wear it day in and day out, to get comfortable with it. We will beat the pulsars, and this time, the cup will be filled with the pirates seed. It will be one glorious sight, I guess you got a plan ready for how to escape the stadium afterwards" he said.

Sonny nodded. As they reached the private astro hangar where The Black Manta was docked, Sonny had started the mental preparation for his inevitable fight with Magnus Blade...

* * *

The snow kids was not letting their heads hang down over the loss. It had to happen one day. And with the ongoing resonance, it was a good thing to just be done. Dame Simbai and Clamp was not all sure how they would handle the loss, but found that unlike on Paradisia, The snow kids had grown, and could handle the loss with would have been proud of them. Now they were all gathered in the locker room after officially exiting the cup. They needed to prepare for the press conferance. This was never their favourite thing, but came with the territory. As soon as they lined up, they were bombarded with questions about the loss. Clamp had to ask them to calm down. Callie had a question for them.

"Now that you are all out of the tournament, with the pulsars advancing to meet The pirates, a former underdog team with no flux of their own, whom now seem to have a flux, whom would the snow kids, the three times galactik champions, support in the finals?"she asked.

Rocket took a step forwards.

"I will handle this one on behalf of the team. We have actually talked about this possibility coming to pass. And although we may not always agree within the team, this is a matter we all agreed on. The snow kids will give their full support to The Shiloh Pirates. We have had the pleasure of playing a friendly match against them, and also been on a training boot camp that was held in secretsy, with them. The pirates are more than oponents to us, they are friends. For the observant viewer, you may have seen we have focused a lot more on team play this season. We had to find a new way to reinvent ourselves, and it turned out,team play was the solution" Rocket said.

Another journalist had a question about the pirates trainer, had the snow kids met him?

This time, D'Jok took to the microphone.

"The snow kids knows who the pirates trainer is, but we are sworn to secretsy on the matter. But I can tell you that he is an amazing man, with humour and kindness, when he does not want to act like a drill instructor"he said, to laughs from the present journalists.

"This season has been dominated by a strange phenomenon that it seemed most teams picked up at Paradisa and the ill fated tournament held there. Are The snow kids dealing with this weakness, or have you just burned all your reserves?"came from another journalist.

Tia felt called to answer.

"We feel this phenomenon, wich has a name, resonance, just like all other teams. We got no known way to treat this, but we know what caused it. At this point, we are in contact with the pirates about this. Their leader, Sonny Blackbones, knows his stuff in science. He is helping develop a cure for this. But it may take some time before medical trials can take place. Remember, Sonny Blackbones is also a wanted man,we know Technoid would want him arrested. But for the time being, Sonny has to remain free, to find a cure.I am confident he will do it. He did once help my parents, the obia moon ambassadors. Sonny is not all as bad as he is made out to be. That I guarantee" she said.

After a few more questions, the press conference ended. Now, the journalists had a real job before them. None of the two teams that would play this years finals was listed with a hotel to be found in. The race was on to get an interview with a member of the pulsars or the pirates...

* * *

The pirates were panting, the drills was even more extreme than normally. Maybe it was an element of excitement to be in the final, to finally have a chance to really show whom the pirates were, no one knew for sure, but Sonny was pushing them hard. Clearly, their boss felt the weight of this match. On top of that, the streets were not a safe place either. Callie Mystic had her informants out, looking for the pirates to give an interview before the final. So far, both finalists had avoided it, and Sonny and Clamp had continued to push for a way to reverse or completely restore a player from severe resonance. Since the pirates knew the hide and seek game like the back of their hands, and their oponents seemed to play at the same game, Sonny had stayed with Clamp and managed to mix a concoction that could boost the players striken with resonance some. With D'Jok, it had been a success it seemed. After D'Jok, the other snow kids was also given a dose to boost them. Again it seemed that with Rocket, it was another story. Clearly, the sphere had been an enviroment that drew too much flux from him. None of the other players had been drained to the point he had. Even tje boost he got was at a very minimum level. Sonny had to hide his disappointment. It seemed his long time nemesis was still wreaking havoc on the galaxy, this time, targeting the footballers. He had often wondered why he targeted the footballers, and not military nations. But as he learned more, he came to realise what a dangerous weapon flux really was if misused. He was well aware of how it led the galaxy to division before, and why the current rules were as stricht as they were. If it wasnt for the catastrophe that glaciated Akillian, he himself and Clamp would have been in trouble with the flux society as well. There was no way Technoid or Bleylock would claim responsibility, That never happened back in his days working for them, and by the looks of things, not even now. Good thing they were under surveillance constantly from the pirates. Especially the research group. To place the equipment there in the lab at Technoid Base had been a dangerous undertaking, but it had paid off. Technoid could now do nothing in regards to research without him knowing of it. Too bad he didnt have the current surveillance system in place when Bleylock was still around. If he had, maybe he could have figured him out sooner, and they would have been able to stop things before it got to this point. Maybe Rockets case could have been reversed too. But Rocket himself knew why he benefited the least from Sonnys boost. It was the amount of exposure he had, and the fact that he played very hard that was the culprit behind his situation. And he had to take his share of the blame for his current condition.

"There should have been a limit to how long a player could stay in the sphere. Not just till he or she was defeated. We see Warren has it, but not as bad as me, no one else has it as bad as me, maybe, except Kernor. Before me, she was the queen of the sphere. I became the king, but at a price that is far too high. I wish I knew who was behind the cursed thing"he said, clearly disappointed at his results.

Sinedd looked down in shame.

"I would think you can blame Technoid, and a guy called Harris for that. I only played once, and I did not have it as bad as you"he said.

Sonny nodded as he recalled the interview with Kernor and Woo Wam Boo at The sharky show. Both carried signs of resonance even then, but Kernor was clearly more fatigued that Woo Wam Boo. Because she spent more time in the sphere.

"Sinedd, how many players spent more than one match in the sphere? I have noticed that the players that play exceptionally hard seem to have this worse than others. Are there more than Kernor and Rocket that we need to look at?"Sonny asked.

Sinedd looked at Sonny.

"Those two are the only ones Sonny. Most players didnt last through the ten minute matches. It was rough play, and many injuries that would need to be explained away. I only took it on because Harris acted as a representative of Technoid. Had I known Bleylock was behind him, I would have choked the good for nothing double crosser" he said with clenched fists.

Sonny and Clamp exchanged looks. This was validation of Sonnys suspicions against Harris, that he had tricked Bleylock. But Harris was just Bleylocks pawn when it came to the flux and its use. Bleylock himself had a more sinister plan behind him stealing and mixing flux. A new doomsday weapon somehow, Harris had decided to foil his plan at the very end. And now it was time to reveal the real truth behind matters.

"You are part right Sinedd,but Harris was just the middle man, there was someone above him as well,someone that never cares about human life. It always was an acceptable loss to him" said Clamp.

Now all eyes were on Clamp. Sonny nodded to Corso, whom pulled up a hologram from when he had seen Bleylock attack Sonny in the alley.

"Who is that dude?He really needs to change his looks"Micro Ice tried to joke.

Sonny looked at his sons best friend.

"He is the one that is truly responsible for Rockets condition. I wish I could hand him to you on a silver platter, the pirates and I got a lot on this man, but he is dead now. And he was also the reason for why the pitch on Genesis had to be rebuilt and why the paradisian tournament could even take place, wich led to a galactik resonance for all football teams. Formerly, he was a general with Technoid, he and I have been enemies for a long time, it even predates D'Jok. I shielded Clamp, because he was already a very dangerous enemy to have. When we both worked for Technoid, this man was our superior, we reported to him, and I was also a friend to this general, until I discovered the truth about how he mistreated others. This abuse of trust led to me having a fall out, with him. Due to the safety of the galaxy and all involved, I was made a wanted man. I swore to correct what I had done wrong"Sonny said, clenching his fists.

Even now, after all this time, the bare thought of that past, made him boil with anger, for the ones he could not help, those doomed to always search for answers that could not be found.

D'Jok seemed to get whom he was speaking of.

"You mean...that monster is General Bleylock? The same General Bleylock that planned to kill you if I didnt loose the first final we ever played?"he said.

Sonny nodded.

"The one and only D'Jok. Somehow he survived a nasty fall, and I only realised he was alive right before the second final. I had my suspicions, but no concrete proof. When he surfaced, it became a matter of life and death again. If not for Harris setting him up, how, I dont know, Bleylock would have detroyed Genesis and killed everyone on it. The pirates really thought it was over, that we would forget all about him after that. But the monster keeps returning" Sonny said.

Corso had been silent till now.

"True. Sonnys not scared of anything normally, but when it comes to this monster, that is the only thing that will make him wake up screaming, bathing in sweat, because his mind reminded him of something. Harris was childsplay in comparison. It seems Bleylock may be behind several players problems now" he said.

"There is one thing I dont get in all this" said Thran.

That made everyone look at him,

"How come no one in Technoid ever tried to stop him, I mean, they must have known"he said.

Dame Simbai stepped forth.

"That is a long and complicated story"she tried.

But now, Tia rose from her seat.

"Well, we are out of the tournament,we got time to spare, and I think someone owes us some answers about why we are in this situation, all of us"she said.

The adults in the room nodded.

That was a fair ask.

"Then remain seated, Clamp and I will tell you all you need to know about one of the most dangerous men that ever walked this galaxy, and why our discoveries back then could have started a new war if we did not take precautions and steps to prevent it" Sonny said as they made ready to start explaining..

* * *

Corso looked at Sonny as he prepared for the training session wearing the armour he had custom made for him. He couldnt stop Sonny from participating in the finals match. He would be wearing the captains armband, Stevens did not feel good about being the captain out there, knowing Sonny would also be playing. This training session however, was not about football. That was why Dame Simbai also was present. This was a training session for Sonny, tailor made to train him in how to use his flux and flux only, to defend himself against Magnus. Despite all searches, it was impossible to locate Magnus for now, but Sonny felt confident he would show before the final.

Corso looked at Sonny whom was ready inside the holo trainer. The way the trainer was built shielded against outside interference and allowed for Sonny to use his flux. Clamp had felt the hologram of Magnus intimidating, but he was not the one faced with him. Sonny was.

And they had set the stage for Genesis stadium. Clamp fed the hologram of the stadium into the trainer, and watched as Sonny, dressed in his team uniform, looked around, to see if he could spot Magnus. His flux was already activated in his hands, ready to put up a shield.

"This time, your flux is your only protection. The only thing between you and him is an energetic shield. You need to be alert and present all the time Sonny"said Dame Simbai.

Sonny nodded as he looked around.

This hologram version of Genesis stadium looked bigger than he was used to. But then again, he never set foot on the pitch like he did now. Corso was right, doing this was risky, but he was left with no real choice. Magnus had manipulated it all into this. This was his chosen arena, where one of them would be at the mercy of Technoid, and the other the winning team. A sound made him move towards the middle. There, the hologram of Magnus looked very real. Sonny had to remind himself of his real appearance. It was nothing like the one he saw here. Not with his genetic heritage from The pulsars. Sonny had seen them play The snow kids. Magnus really had to have issues with many things to create an image that deviated that much from his true identity.

"Time to say your last prayer Sonny. This is one time you wont win" snarled the hologram.

Sonny clenched his teeth.

"We will see about that Magnus. You got a lot to answer for. And I am not stepping down. It was a legal voting, the pirates made the call, not you, not me. They chose me because they wanted the same as I sought, freedom,truth and a sense of closure to the past. If you had given them that, you would still be the leader. You became greedy, lusting for money, power. A true pirate is better than that" Sonny shot back.

"Control the anger you feel, and relax your hands, let the flux flow. The way you act now, you will loose control" Dame Simbai cautioned him.

Corso looked at the screen too.

"Here we go" he said, as the hologram of Magnus launched towards a well prepared Sonny...

* * *

The big night was here. In the studio, Noork and Barry were talking with Callie Mystic. This was a truly unexpected outcome of the finale. But then again, this had also been a most unusual cup.

All teams struggled with an unexplainable condition, wich was only getting evident in the final sixteen. They had made calls around to the teams not present at Genesis stadium for the finals, where the reports sounded the same everywhere they asked. The player felt fatigued, and could not for the life of them explain the loss of flux or energy that had happened on the pitch. All they knew was, they had never felt this tired ever before. Technoid was allegedly working on a cure.

There was also speculation if the pirates had done something, since they still seemed strong and were for the first time ever one of two finalists.

As a result, there was a heavy Technoid presence at the stadium tonight. On the pitch and in the locker room, the pirates had immunity, and could not be touched. But when they left, that immunity was gone.

There was also wide spread speculation on wheter the coaches pod was a place covered by the immunity. The galaxy hoped to get a glimpse of the infamous pirate chief as well. Surely, with an event like this, he would be present to cheer his team on. But the coaches pod for the Shiloh pirates remained empty. It seemed the pirates took their precautions before this event as well.

Then, there was the talk about the lack of interviews before the finals match. None of the finalists had said a word, the same way Team paradisia had responded during their final against the snow kids.

Callie had tried all she could to find them, but no luck. Not even a phone call to Corso had helped. She had been told the pirates were focusing on preparing and had no comment to offer.

"Here they come, the two unknown finalists of this years galactik football cup. The pulsars, an unknown team from the distant east of the galaxy, and the underdogs, The shiloh pirates, a team thought to be without flux, but whom proved the galaxy wrong. And both teams look very determined as they step of their landing pods"said Barry.

Callie pressed the microphone to her ear, she had just received an update, from the shiloh pirates.

"Dear Holo viewers, I just received an update. Normally, Stevens would be the captain of the shiloh pirates, but today, there is another and new to us, player, filling this position. There is no name listed for this player. I have only been given a jersey number. We will call him player X. He plays with the number 11 on his jersey. It seems Sonny Blackbones men are full of surprises, even at such a serious time"she cheered.

At the bleachers, The snow kids sat together as one united team. Their ultra vip seats allowed them some privacy.

"They sure look determined, I will give them that" said Rocket.

D'Jok agreed.

"This match, it is probably the most important match ever played on this pitch, and the galaxy is not even aware of the looming danger" he said.

Mei nodded as she took his hand. She looked at her teammates.

"Lets all join hands at kick off" she suggested.

The snow kids agreed.

They now knew this match could make the difference of how they saw the galaxy they lived in. It would either remain, or all would be lost. And D'Jok felt the burden heavily on his shoulders. If all went downhill now, he risked seeing his father either arrested, or worse, getting killed. They knew how intensely the pirates had trained. They had even helped them with drills and nutrition. They deserved credit from the galaxy for the risk they took on.

As the teams lined up on the pitch, the snowkids all put their hands on top of each other. There was a feeling of worry, as they did this. This could be their last moments, in the galaxy that was at peace.

"Go Pirates Go!" they yelled as the ball was put in play...

* * *

_Next chapter will conclude this story. I am well on the way here with it. I hope you have all enjoyed the story. You will see that it has strings to other stories I have written in here as well. And I have started a new story. I look forwards to sharing it with you once the first chapter has been beta read. I have once again, from the very start this time, joined forces with Paranoid girl, whom I feel knows the charracters perhaps even better than me. I wont promise any romance stories, that isnt my thing, but I do promise answers. Till then, enjoy this chapter._


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